Moving Pictures
by RhiannonoftheMoon
Summary: As the modern and feudal lock horns, a Taiyoukai struggles with matters of the heart versus preconceived notions in the form a beautiful, if vulgar, hanyou. Can cats and dogs live together? SesshomaruXOC.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Strange Dreams

Charlotte sighed heavily and let the drape slip through her fingers, extinguishing the lights of Los Angeles twinkling below her. Normally a reassuring sight, the endless stretch of humanity seemed to press on her shoulders like a dead weight. Robert Smith's voice sang her song mournfully from the speakers mounted on the ceiling of her apartment, "_Sometimes I'm dreaming, Charlotte sometimes"_(1)

"Happy birthday to me," she muttered under her breath and sloshed more wine into her glass. She'd always told herself that turning thirty was no big deal, especially to a creature who could potentially live hundreds of years. But here it was, her thirtieth birthday and all she wanted to do was punch something. Or, get stinking drunk.

She supposed that she should have gone out dancing with her friends. They'd found a guy for her who they _promised_ was handsome, intelligent, wonderful, not at all the like the loser with whom they'd set her up last time. She'd bowed out, complaining of a headache and cramps, knowing they'd take the bait and leave her alone. She just didn't feel like making small talk with some boring lout who's only aspirations were getting in her pants.

She'd even taken a couple of weeks vacation off work. Tomorrow, she planned to drive up to her twin brother's place near Yosemite, but today, she'd lounged around the apartment. She'd done some reading, dozed in front of a movie, and generally did absolutely nothing, all in a haze of self-pity. The highlight of her day had been the Fed-Ex package that had arrived in the afternoon. Answering the door in her bathrobe and a headscarf, she'd signed for the thin, flat parcel and carried it to her living room.

A girlfriend from Tokyo had sent it, someone she had met in college and hadn't seen since graduation. They'd met in one of their programming classes and had quickly become the best of friends. Keiko had been in LA as an exchange student, studying English and Computer Science and Charlotte had been taking Japanese as a minor with her Computer Science major. Keiko had been the only human to whom she had revealed her true nature. She had been surprised but not horrified, and had told Charlotte stories about the 'youkai' that supposedly populated Japan. After finishing school, Keiko had moved back to Japan. They had drifted apart but stayed in contact, periodically emailing each other or sending cards.

The package still sat in the living room, unopened. Shortly after the Fed-Ex guy had left, the phone had rung. She'd set the thing down to answer it and it had slipped from her mind. Now, she eyed the white box curiously, wondering what on earth her friend had sent her. Setting the half-full (or is it half-empty, her mind supplied) glass of wine on the coffee table, she wandered over to the box leaning against the sofa.

Catching her reflection in the mirror in the mirror above the sofa, she paused. 'Thirty's nothing when you don't age,' she contemplated her unlined face. Her blonde hair was short and layered, framing her face, the longest layers curling against her tanned shoulders. Sun-kissed highlights on the top and dark blond underneath, the effect was three-dimensional and few people believed it was natural. Small, tufted, triangular ears poked out of her hair, a rich honey-gold that blended with her hair. 'Then why are you so bummed?'

She flopped down on the couch and buried her face in the overstuffed cushions. "Because I'm BORED!" She sighed, 'Now you're talking to yourself.' She raised herself to her elbows and grabbed the goblet, downing the contents. Leaning her body over the arm of the sofa, she located the "open here" tab on the side of the box. Without much hope that it would actually work, she tugged on the bit of cardboard. Sure enough, the tab tore off halfway through the top. "Fuck it," she muttered and extended a sharp, talon-like claw from the tip of her finger. Wondering why she hadn't that in the first place, she slid the claw through the rest of the top. She peered into the darkness inside the box, then gently tilted it. A piece of paper, carefully folded, fluttered out. Snatching it up and setting the box down, she unfolded it.

_Kitty,_

_Happy Birthday! Hope you like this - the shopkeeper assured me that it had youkai origins and I had to get it for you. Even if it doesn't, it's right up your alley!_

_Come visit me sometime!_

_-Keiko_

Charlotte chuckled, the wine pleasantly buzzing in her head. "Keiko, I'm not a demon. I'm a _werelion_." Her friend's voice echoed in her head, supplying the reply to the old argument, "_Same difference" _

She reached into the box and pulled out the brightly wrapped package, laying it in her lap. Using her still-extended claw, she eased the tape from the paper until Keiko's present had been freed from its colorful bindings. _"Whenever I'm alone with you, you make you feel like I am free again,_"(2) The Cure crooned in the background.

She stared down at the painted landscape. "Keiko, you know me too well," she thought as she traced the delicate branches of the blooming cherry tree in the foreground. Behind, a snowcapped mountain kissed the blushing sky, it's base haloed in fog. Almost shrouded by the mist, a mansion was barely visible, defined only by tiny brushstrokes. Charlotte had always loved this kind of painting, whimsical, magical and graceful. 'I want to go there,' she had told Keiko on the occasions they had seen this style of artwork. 'Everything would be so perfect and beautiful.' Keiko had laughed at her, 'It would be like anywhere else. It's probably a real place.'

She sighed and set it down, leaning it against the couch. Applying the logic of mildly intoxicated people the world over, she decided it was time for another drink. Wending her way back to the bottle, she filled her glass and began to set the bottle back down. She thought better of it and meandered back to the couch, bottle in tow. She dropped into a cross-legged sit in front of the painting and took a long sip. There was something unusually fascinating about this painting - was it the way the fog seemed to roll around the mountain? It didn't move but it didn't seem to stay in the same place, either. Or was it the cherry blossoms that almost shivered in the breeze?

She stretched out on the floor and propped herself up on her elbows, her brain too hazy to keep her sitting upright. The painting took up her entire field of view but lost no detail. Reaching a hand to the end table by the sofa, she found her reading glasses by feel. Usually using them to protect her eyes from the light of the computer screen, they were also handy for focusing on small print. Concentrating for moment, she transformed into her most human form and slipped them onto her face, the arms hooking behind her slightly pointed ears, now in the position of a human's ears. Blinking through the light plastic lenses, she examined it again. 'Fascinating, it's like I can zoom in…' She giggled suddenly and inched forward until her nose was only inches from the thin wood. 'I can almost touch that tree…' she brushed her fingers, the nails short and blunt, through the air over the paint. A warm tingle traveled from her fingertips up her arm, filling her head with a sudden vertigo. She blinked, too groggy to really react and analyze the situation.

Squinting, she pressed her nose against the wood. A dot of yellow paint now touched the mansion, as if there were a light shining from a window. She was positive it hadn't been there a second ago. The floor suddenly tilted and Charlotte tumbled into black oblivion.

Her head pounded steadily and her mouth felt stuffed with cotton. It wasn't fair - she didn't remember having drunk enough to get a hangover, and if you didn't remember it, it didn't count, right? And it was chilly - had she left the balcony door open? She shouldn't have taken that robe off…why was she laying in grass?

Charlotte's eyes popped open. Cherry blossoms rustled above her, petals falling like snow. Blades of grass tickled her cheek and the twilit air was filled with the song of crickets. Rubbing her temples with her knuckles, she groaned and sat up. 'I must have passed out in front of that painting…since when have dreams included headaches? And wet jammies?' Her pink flannel pajama pants were damp and clammy where she had laid in the grass, sticking to her tops of her thighs. The front of her camisole top was also wet and grass stains now marred "Hello Kitty's" pretty white fur. She sighed resignedly, "I hope the cleaning lady doesn't trip over me when she comes in tomorrow morning."

As far as dreams went, this one was truly amazing. The scents alone that hit her nose were overwhelming and she could hardly name any of them. Conspicuously absent were the odors of car exhaust, rotting garbage and human sweat that seemed to permeate the city. She was accustomed to them so hadn't really noticed them in years. A scattering of stars twinkled down at her thought the purple sky and she blinked back up at them, trying to remember the last time she'd seen real stars. The chorus of crickets rose in a sweeping crescendo as more stars winked into the sky. Awestruck, she sat in the wet grass, hands resting limply in her lap, and watched the blossoming night, unaware of the quiet footsteps that approached from behind.

A/N:

(1) "Charlotte Sometimes", written and performed by The Cure

(2) "Love Song", written and performed by The Cure


	2. Of Melon and TaiYoukai

A/N: My other fic, "Don't know what you've got..." is my main project but this is a little thing I've been playing with for awhile. I'll try to update it regulary, but I won't promise anything.

FFnet:

inuyasha4ever1, Shock1119.

Forgotten Angel: Thanks! This is a Sesshomaru fic.

agent-doo: Which direction would that be? Just curious...

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takashi.

Chapter 2 - Of Melon and Tai-youkai

The high-pitched voiced of a child spoke behind her. Startled, Charlotte snapped her head around toward the source of the voice, pulling off her glasses and stuffing them in a pocket in her pants. A young girl, a lock of black hair gathered into a pigtail, stared down at her patiently. She shifted from one foot to the other, a large melon clutched against her orange and white checkered kimono.

Charlotte stared stupidly back, "Huh?"

The girl repeated the question and it took a moment for Charlotte's brain to register the fact that she was speaking Japanese.

"Uhhh, I don't think I'm lost…" Charlotte responded slowly. It had been a while since she had spoken the language and the words felt awkward and stilted on her tongue. She also didn't know the answer to the question. Could one get lost in one's dream?

Her pretty face breaking into a sunny smile , the girl laughed, "You talk funny." She sat across from her in the wet grass, the melon resting in her lap. "My name's Rin, what's yours?"

"Charlotte. Aren't you a little young to be out by yourself?"

"Nah, Jakken's around somewhere." Using a small knife she had hidden in her kimono, Rin sliced into the melon, cutting a fat wedge and holding it out to her. "Want some? It's good."

"Thanks," Charlotte took the proffered slice, biting into it. Sweet and soft, the fruit was the best she'd ever had. "Mmm, yummy," she mumbled between mouthfuls. Rin nodded enthusiastically and cut the rest of the melon into pieces. Juice ran down their fingers and chins in sticky rivulets by the time they'd finished.

Licking the nectar from her fingers, Charlotte regarded her young companion. "You know, it's a beautiful night and all, but shouldn't we get you home?"

The girl shook her head and wiped her hands in the damp grass. "I told you, Jakken…"

A small man, no more than a couple of feet tall, was rushing across the grassy field, his cheeks puffed with effort. "Rin! Where are you, you confounded child? Rin! Answer me!"

"Over here," Rin waved a small hand in the air.

Charlotte leaned over to Rin and whispered behind her hand, "Who's the frog?" The unlikely green creature wore a brown jumpsuit of some sort and carried an ugly, two-headed staff that was at least twice his height. His beady eyes flashed with indignation as he remonstrated Rin in a high, grating voice. He reminded her of a Muppet, the way his beaky mouth flapped away. Charlotte didn't catch all of what he said but she was sure it wasn't very nice. 'This dream is getting really fucking weird.'

"That's Jakken. He's Lord Sesshomaru's vassal and he watches over me when Lord Sesshomaru's not around,"

"Does he sing about rainbows?" Charlotte wondered aloud.

Rin frowned up at her, "Rainbows?"

"Never mind."

"Rin, who's this you're with?" Jakken stopped next to the females, breathing hard and planting the staff in the ground and a small green fist on his hip. The suspicious light in which the creature eyed her put her on edge and she stood, drawing herself up to her full height, and glared down at him.

"This is Char-lot," the girl stumbled over the unfamiliar pronunciation.

"You can call me Kitty," Charlotte said quickly. Keiko had given her the nickname after she had revealed her true nature. Keiko had gasped and clapped her hands, 'You're a big kitty cat!' Pushing her lip out, Charlotte had mock-pouted, 'A _mountain lion.' _But, the name had stuck and was now used by most of her friends.

"What manner of youkai are you?" the little green man squinted up at her.

"I'm not a demon."

"No human is as tall and fair as you are," he jabbed a stubby green finger at her.

"Well, I'm not a demon," she crossed her arms and scowled at him. She was a werelion - demons had horns and breathed fire and stuff.

He snorted and directed his attention to the child. "Come along Rin. We've kept Lord Sesshomaru waiting long enough." He turned his back and stomped away in the direction he had come.

Rin scrambled to her feet and brushed off her kimono, "I'm ready." She skipped off behind the imp, then stopped suddenly and turned. "Wanna come with us, Kitty?"

"Rin! You can't just invite someone along like that!" outrage shone in his beady black eyes.

Charlotte inventoried her options: she could stay where she was and watch the moon rise, or she could follow the kid and meet this 'Lord Sesshomaru' person. 'As much as I like sitting in the cold, wet grass,' she thought with a shudder, 'I have to check this guy out.' And hadn't she been bored in the first place? "OK," she agreed and caught up to the girl, pointedly ignoring the sputtering imp.

Sesshomaru lounged on a low boulder in a forest clearing, one knee raised with his armed propped on it, and stared off into space. He was content to simply sit, letting his thoughts drift, as he waited for Jakken and Rin to return. Regal and aloof, he could have been carved of alabaster, if not for his long silver hair billowing in the mild evening breeze. His golden eyes barely shifted as the sounds of voices filtered through the trees. As Rin chattered inanely, the image of her broken body rose in his mind. She had tried to help him after he had been badly wounded in a fight with his brother and she had been savaged by wolves shortly after. He had brought her back to life with Tenseiga, the Sword of Life, forged from his father's fang, and she had been with him ever since.

The slightest of frowns flitted across his features as an unknown laughter joined that of Rin's. Warm and rich, it seemed to bubble out of its owner and fill the air. The stranger responded to Rin's question, but the accent, not the answer caught his attention. Altogether unfamiliar, it twanged and lengthened vowels; not unpleasant but very different.

Jakken stormed into the clearing, obviously fuming, the Staff of Two Heads pressed against his shoulder. Deep in conversation, Rin and a strange human woman followed close behind. Oddly dressed and unnaturally tall for a human female, she seemed to shine like a candle in the moonlight. She tossed her short hair, sending a cascade of gold over her shoulder and shaking free cherry blossoms that taken up residence there. Rin looked up and a delighted grin lit up her face, "My Lord Sesshomaru!"

Charlotte glanced in the direction the girl was looking and her jaw dropped. "Stop the press, who is that…" she murmured to herself in English. He was achingly beautiful and would have been effeminate if not for his commanding presence. He wore his crests proudly: a blue moon on his forehead and stripes on his cheeks. She felt a pang of jealousy; she had always kept hers hidden. Was he another were-creature? Horned armor protected his chest and shoulders and covered a white outfit detailed with a red design. Charlotte cast around her memory for the name of his garment, 'Keiko told me years ago…hakama, haori.' One of his full sleeves was empty, suggesting a missing limb. A yellow sash and an enormous white fur boa completed the ensemble. She couldn't help but feel she had ended up at the West Hollywood Halloween parade. Despite the odd getup, her gaze was always drawn back to his eyes, golden and piercing, they seemed to strip her flesh from the bone.

Jakken bowed low, trembling, "My Lord, that child invited her and she followed us here! I tried to stop her…"

Rin took her hand and cut him off, "This is my new friend, Char-lot from…"

"Charlotte," she corrected the pronunciation.

"How dare you address the tai-youkai in such a manner!"

"Tai? What?" So, this was a demon? She really had expected horns. 'I bet he could grow one,' she thought lasciviously as her eyes traveled over his voluminous pants. 'You never know what those hakama could be hiding.'

"Tai-youkai, the Dog General, Lord of the Western Lands!" the little imp was working himself into a fever of indignation.

"She's from Los Angeles," Rin piped up.

"Utter nonsense, who's ever heard of such a place?" Jakken snorted and crossed his arms.

Sighing, Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Just because _you_ haven't heard of it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

"Insolent wench!" Jakken shook his fist at her, outrage boiling in his black eyes.

"Ignorant buffoon."

"Filthy human!"

"Scum-sucking cretin."

"Enough," Sesshomaru's quiet word cut the name calling short. "You may stay with us tonight but tomorrow, you must leave." He dismissed her with a turn of his head. "Jakken, light a fire."

Rin looked up at her sadly, "I'm sorry, Kitty."

Grinning down at her, Charlotte shook her head. "No biggie. You're all figments of my imagination anyway. Tomorrow, I'll wake up on my apartment floor and all of this," she gestured vaguely at the woods surrounding them, "will be the memory of a dream."

Not sure that she understood, Rin nodded anyway.

Sesshomaru discreetly watched the woman through the thick fringe of his silver bangs. He had not spent much time with women, human or youkai, because they hadn't really captured his interest. Human women were lower than insects, therefore not worth consideration. The human that tailed his half-breed brother was one of the more annoying examples of the species. The youkai females he had encountered had been simpering idiots after his title and lands, or enemies, also trying to acquire his territory. The few that he bothered to bed had left him unsatisfied and bored.

This female was intriguing, though mad or deluded. Convinced that she was dreaming but curious about her young companion, Charlotte had plied Rin with questions about her life, goals, and dreams until they were both nodding sleepily. Now they were curled up next to each other, sleeping quietly.

The more he tried to ignore her, the more his eyes were drawn back to her. Grey-green eyes sparkling with humor and intelligence, her face and body were constantly animated. She spoke with her hands as much as her mouth and she laughed easily. Aside from her outlandish appearance and accent, there was something decidedly peculiar about her scent. Underneath the acrid, metallic smells that seemed to stick to her clothing and a chemical sweetness that rose in a cloud from her hair, her scent was human…but not quite. Almost generic in its blandness, the human smell seemed more like a mask, covering something else. Everything about her was mysterious and fascinating. Even the flash of her throat as she breathed entranced him. Irritated that a human could distract him, he closed his eyes.

Charlotte woke up on the ground for the second time in twelve hours. It was simply too lumpy to be her living room carpet. Afraid to open her eyes, she groaned softly as she tried to grapple with the idea that she had not been dreaming after all, and that she was in a foreign land accompanied by demons. Coffee, that's what she needed. A hot cup of coffee and a cross-word puzzle, followed by an equally hot shower. She seriously doubted that she'd get any of them.

A sharp object nudged the small of her back and she cracked an eye open. "Get up, human. Time for you to go," the little green imp poked her again with the bottom tip of his staff.

"Knock it off, Kermit," she grumbled as she sat up and rubbed her hands over her face. Early morning sun sparkled off the dew gathered in the cups of leaves. Rin was inspecting a spider web decorated with the glittering droplets, occasionally touching a sticky strand and giggling as the spider in the center bounced and spun.

"Shit." Not only was she still in this here, wherever 'here' was, she was going to be deserted by the only people she had met. She had to find out where she was and, more importantly, how to get back. Suddenly, a eight-hour day of hacking out code didn't seem so bad.

That demon was staring at her again, she could feel his eyes on the back of her neck. She'd ignored it last night, hell if she wasn't good at ignoring ogling men, but it was starting to annoy her. She twisted around and met his eyes. "So, Sesshomaru…where am I, exactly?"

He regarded her silently, disgust in his cold eyes.

"Ooookay, never mind," she untwisted and raked a hand through her hair. Gathering her thoughts, she traced her steps over the last day. As impossible as it seemed, the only thing that could account for her predicament was the painting Keiko had sent her. There certainly had been something odd about it, but the details were clouded in a haze of inebriation. "Rin, do you remember seeing anything in that field before you found me?"

The girl abandoned the web and skipped over to her. "Like what?"

"I don't know, another person, a painting, a flash of light, a door to another dimension…?" The little girl shook her head solemnly, her eyes wide. "Nothing?" Charlotte sighed and absently chewed on a thumbnail.

"Does this mean you're not dreaming?"

"Doesn't look like it." She stood and rolled the kinks out of her shoulders. The smells of the forest were still very much overwhelming but she was sure she could make her way back to the field where she had awoken. More disturbing was the lack of sounds to which she had become inured but now sorely missed: the drone of airplanes high above, the constant hum of cars rushing by, human voices talking, laughing, shouting, crying, but always surrounding her. Shaking the wrinkles out of her pajama pants, she forced a smile as she started back up the path they had come. "Goodbye, Rin. It was nice to meet you."

"Where are you going?" Rin called after her.

"Back to where this mess started."


	3. Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

A/N: This story seems to be shaping up a little slower than my other one.

FFnet:

Shock1119 - my OC is a conglomeration of me and people I know. Ha! I'm sure there is plenty of him to go around...

Forgotten Angel - Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 3 - Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

Charlotte stood in the field under the cherry tree and desperately fought back tears. This was the scene from the painting but there was nothing in the field to suggest how she could get back. She'd combed the area for something, anything that could help her, but had only found last night's melon rinds and a lot of grass. For lack of anything better to do, she grabbed onto the lowest branch of the tree and hoisted herself onto it. Momentarily considering changing back to her most comfortable form and quickly discarding the idea, she scrambled up into the tree until the branches were hardly big enough to support her weight. Straddling the limb and squeezing it with her thighs, she peered through the blossoms and across the land.

Thick forest encircled the meadow and stretched as far as she could see, broken only by the thin blue ribbon of a stream. The mountain jutted out of the forest like a fang, cloaking the distant mansion in shadow. It peak was capped with snow, and even in the bright, warm sunlight, still had a halo of cloud. No paved roads, no cities, no sign of civilization as she knew it.

She swung her legs up and placed one foot in front of the other on the branch, using her hands to shift her weight onto them until she was in a low crouch. The branch creaked alarmingly as she rose out of the crouch and steadied herself against the trunk. 'Uh, oh…' she glanced around frantically for another branch that could hold her weight but she was too high in the tree.

With a loud crack, the bough snapped and she dropped. Screaming and scrabbling for a handhold, she smacked into branches as she fell. Twigs tore at her hair and clothes as she tried to twist into a position that would allow her to land on her feet. The density of the branches prevented even that, and she landed heavily on her back, the breath whooshing out of her. Dazed, she lay still and waited for her head to clear.

"Humans do not belong in trees," a cold voice stated above her.

She groaned and flopped an arm over her face. Her mother had told her something similar, 'Never try to climb a tree in your human form. You'll only get hurt.' That had been after, 'Don't sit on branches that are smaller than your thigh.' Charlotte had just chosen to ignore both gems of wisdom, but it didn't make the his comment any less irritating. "What are you doing here?"

"Young Rin has convinced me to allow you to accompany us." Rin had asked him quietly and earnestly, probably the first time she had asked him for anything. He had found himself acquiescing and had to justify it on his way to find her. Female companionship would be good for Rin and they had gotten along remarkably well. If she became too tedious, well, he could kill her and be done with it. He had thought the issue was closed when he watched her fall out of the tree and lay still. Rin would be disappointed, but she would get over it. Approaching quietly, he had realized that she was stunned but very much alive.

"Oh yeah?" she was surprised; he didn't seem the type to change his mind. The branches rustled and creaked above her and she rolled to the side instinctively, narrowly avoiding being hit by a falling limb. She stared at it and took a deep breath, trying to calm the shaking that accompanied the rush of adrenaline. The sudden movement brought into sharp relief the bruises she'd acquired during her fall.

Pushing herself to her feet, she backed away from the canopy of the tree. 'Maybe that would be a good idea, especially considering how much trouble I've gotten into just being alone an hour. I can keep an eye open for magic paintings and in the meantime, have an adventurous vacation.' She raked a hand through her hair, dislodging several twigs, as an unpleasant thought occurred to her, 'My brother, he's expecting me tonight.' Glancing around reflexively for her cell phone, she patted her pockets. "You don't have a phone, do you?" she asked the youkai staring at her as if she were a particularly nasty form of bug.

"No."

"What about the guy who lives there?" she asked, pointing to the distant mansion.

"I live there."

"Oh." Shading her eyes with one hand and resting the other on her hip, she took one last look around the field. "Doesn't look like I have many options." She shrugged and turned to him, "Lay on, MacDuff."

888888888

"My lord, he'd wandered into a patch of brambles and the bridal became entangled," Jakken puffed as he led the most incredible creature Charlotte had ever seen.

"Fuck me, is that a dragon?" Two scaly heads perched atop two slender necks turned in her direction, fixing her with two pairs of eyes. Its brownish green hide was also scaled, and it sported two reptilian tails.

"You will refrain from swearing around Rin," the tai-youkai intoned from behind them.

Charlotte grimaced, "Right, sorry 'bout that." It had been a long time since she'd had to watch her language. Working in a software department, surrounded by geeks and gamers, had given her a colorful, if vulgar, vocabulary.

"That's Ah-Un, our noble steed," Rin piped up from beside her. The little girl tugged on her hand, leading her up to the dragon and clambering into the saddle on its back. "Get on, Kitty!"

"Maybe later. I think I'll walk for a while. I need to lose five pounds anyway," Charlotte regarded the saddled creature with mistrust. Horses had never been fond of her kind, probably because they knew they were walking smorgasbords. Granted, Charlotte had never hunted or eaten horse, but as soon as one caught her scent, even when she was in her human form, it reared, bucked, and did everything it could to get away. This dragon didn't seem to have a problem with her, but she wasn't going to tempt fate when a child was in the saddle. Besides, she been on a Taco Bell kick lately, and really could work off some fat.

It had been a long time since Charlotte had taken a nature hike, and she realized that she was enjoying herself despite her predicament and silent companions. Rin had nodded off in the saddle, Jakken ignored her, and Sesshomaru ignored everyone, but the air was clean and the sun was warm. Humming quietly to herself, she let her mind wander. 'Who is Sesshomaru? A lord of some sort, obviously, and Jakken had called him the Dog General…did that mean he was a werewolf? Weredog? Dog demon?' She made a mental note to ask Rin about it later. She had a strong rapport with the girl, almost as if she were the sister she'd wanted as a child.

"Stop that infernal noise, wench," Jakken griped at her.

Broken out of her reverie, she snapped back, "Piss off, toad."

Sesshomaru stopped the group with a raised hand. Without a word, he dissolved into a ball of energy and shot off into the trees.

"Where'd he go?" Charlotte stared after him, her mouth open in shock.

"He doesn't have to answer to the likes of you," Jakken huffed. Rin jerked awake in the saddle, yawning and blinking sleepily,

Snatching the dragon's reins from his hands, Charlotte led the beast off the path and toward the river she knew was running parallel to the path, just beyond the screen trees.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Jakken squeaked, waving an arm and his staff in the air.

"I don't have to answer to the likes of you," she bit back, tired of the imp's attitude. He was asking for some serious hurt.

The river flowed languidly along its pebbly banks, too sleepy to burble but so clear and clean that the bottom could be seen even at the deepest parts. A portion of it had backed up into a small inlet, forming a clear, clean pond had just enough movement to discourage leeches and mosquitoes but not enough to create a strong current. Fish darted along the bottom, doing whatever it was fish do at the bottom of streams. Several scrubby bushes struggled for life in the sand and pebbles, sharp twigs seeming to reach for the water.

"Care for a swim, Rin?" Charlotte grinned at the girl still sitting on the dragon's back. Normally, she didn't swim in fresh water; she didn't like the idea of things swimming in the water with her. The ocean was a different story, however. She could body surf all afternoon if given the opportunity. Her brother, the country boy, teased her, 'You get creeped out by a few fish but sharks don't bother you?' He had a point, but she still preferred a chlorinated pool to a lake. With no pools, oceans, or showers in sight, the river would have to do.

Rin slipped off the dragon's back and clapped her hands. "We'll have fish for dinner!"

"You fish?" Charlotte looked at her in surprise. "How?" She didn't have a pole, line, hook, bait…

Laughing, the girl held out her hands, "With my hands!"

Charlotte laughed with her, "Okay, kiddo." Slipping off her bottoms and dropping them onto a low bush, she waded into the calm water, suppressing a shriek as the frigid liquid hit her skin. When she was in sufficiently deep water, she lowered herself until she was covered up to her neck and slipped off her underwear. Her panties and camisole covered a lot more than her bikini, but she wasn't about to give that miserable little Fraggle a free show. Scrubbing them clean under the water, she pulled them back on, wincing at the feeling of wet cotton against her skin. She tugged off her camisole and worked out the grass stains, careful to keep the water up to her chin. Once her clothes were clean and back in place, she ducked under the water to wet her hair. Working out the tangles and plant matter she'd managed to acquire, and missing the shampoo and conditioner sitting on the floor of her shower, she washed her hair until it was as clean as she could get it.

"Look, Kitty!" True to her word, Rin clutched a large, squirming fish and held it up over her head, its silver scales glinting in the afternoon sunlight. The edges of the kimono were tucked into her belt and miraculously, the girl had managed to stay completely dry. She tossed it onto the bank, far enough from the water that it couldn't flop back.

Smoothing wet hair and water from her face, Charlotte grinned at her. "Wow, Rin, that's amazing!" She swam back to the bank and climbed out, brushing as much water off of her goose-fleshed legs as she could and pulling her pants back on. Rolling up the cuffs to make shorts, she sat on the sandy bank to finish drying. Rin was standing very still in the shallow water, waiting for another fish to swim by.

Low on the horizon, the pale ghost of a waxing moon hovered ethereally in the blue sky like a double-exposed photograph. Charlotte stared up at it apprehensively. She had wanted to be at her brother's place before the full moon, but it didn't look like that was going to happen. She'd have to find a safe place, away from her new companions. 'Think they'd notice if I snuck off for a night?' She glanced over at Jakken; he was sitting with his back to her, pretending to ignore them both but surreptitiously watching Rin. Regardless, she'd have to slip away. If they didn't let her rejoin them, then so be it.


	4. Misconceptions and Deceptions

A/N:

FFnet:

ForgottenAngel – Thanks!

Shock1119 – I hadn't thought of Monsters, Inc when I choose that name. Funny :D

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 4 - Misconceptions and Deceptions

"Does he do this a lot?" Charlotte sent another stone skipping across the surface of the water. She'd gotten good at it over the last day and a half that they'd camped at the edge of the river waiting for Sesshomaru to return.

"Yep," Rin said cheerfully, searching the ground for a good skipping stone. "But he always comes back."

"Hmmm," Charlotte crossed her arms and stared at the dregs of the sunset staining the sky orange, the third she'd seen in this foreign land. She'd made up her mind that she would continue on in the morning, with or without the cold tai-youkai and his followers. She would miss young Rin, but sitting on the bank of a river, no matter how pleasant, would not bring her closer to getting back home.

In the meantime, she had a craving for meat. Rin's fish, charred last night over the campfire with makeshift spits, had been tasty but unfulfilling. She longed for something rare, spiced with adrenaline from the hunt. "How about I go get something for dinner?" she cocked her head and grinned at the young girl who was squatting on the bank, abandoning her search for skipping stones.

Rin blinked up at her, "Like what?"

Charlotte shrugged. "Whatever I find. I'm a pretty decent hunter." It had been a while since she'd gone hunting somewhere other than a grocery store, but those skills were ingrained, a integral part of herself. Her beast wouldn't let her forget something like that.

Jaken's rude snort from the line of trees grated on her nerves. The closer it got to the full moon, the more difficult it would be for Charlotte to resist throttling him. Yes, a hunt was what she needed - she could run out her irritation and satisfy her hunger. "I'll be back in a bit, Rin." She waved once and entered the forest.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Sesshomaru glided through the forest at the edge of a wide meadow in which deer grazed, oblivious to his presence. His errand had been fruitless; the saimyoushou had died and fallen from the sky before he'd found them and there had been no indication of their direction.

A glimmer of gold caught his eye and he paused, curious. Sharp eyes piercing the darkness, he recognized the filthy human of whom Rin had become so unaccountably fond hiding in the brush, watching the herd of deer. Idiot, she had should have stayed close to Jaken and Ah-Un. He still didn't know why her tolerated her presence.

Sniffing the still air, he caught the scent of cat. Nostrils flaring in anger, he growled softly. He had already driven those damn panthers from the West; it was their deaths they were courting by returning. His hand flexed around the hilt of Tokijin as he picked his way toward the interloper. The cat odor hit him again, but it wasn't the scent of panther. It had a dry, sagebrush scent that was strangely familiar and it was very close to Rin's human friend whose name he couldn't bear to say. It would serve her right if she were torn apart by the cat youkai lurking nearby.

The human shot out of brush toward the deer, running in a crouch, her arms stretched out behind her, bare legs flashing in the moonlight. She was scantily clad, wearing only the tight-fitting shirt that left her arms bare and a garment that barely covered her butt. She must have removed the ridiculous pink pants.

A large buck raised its head, ears cocked to the danger it sensed approaching. Rearing back on its haunches, the buck sounded the alert that sent the rest of the herd racing toward the safety of the forest. Surprised into immobility, Sesshomaru watched as the golden-haired creature skimmed the ground, feet barely touching the grass. No human could attain that speed, he knew for certain. She leapt, close to the ground but covering many yards, and landed firmly on the buck's back. Sharp claws locking into the buck's hide, she bit into the back of its neck and threw her weight to the side, rolling them both into the long meadow grasses. The dying deer flailed it legs into the air, bleating frantically as its life pumped onto the ground. The woman dug her teeth deeper into its neck, holding it down until its struggles weakened, then stopped altogether. As he strode through the meadow, Sesshomaru couldn't help but admit that it had been a clean, efficient kill, but he wasn't sure what angered him more: the fact that she had charaded as a human or that he had enjoyed watching her bring the big buck down.

He slowed as he approached, taking time to register the change in her features. Small, golden, triangular ears poked out of her hair and she was definitely the source of cat scent. Each finger was tipped by a sharp talon, which she used to deftly gut and filet the buck. She didn't seem to notice his presence; his scent was masked by the stench of freshly spilt blood and her quiet muttering in an alien language covered his footfalls.

"Man, what I wouldn't give for a nice cold bottle of Chardonnay and a pint of chocolate ice cream," Charlotte popped into her mouth the piece of flesh that had been skewered by her claw, chewing happily. She sat cross-legged in the grass, separating the best pieces of meat from the scraps and placing them in a pile. The rest of it she would leave for the wolves that would surely be attracted by the smell of the carcass. She shuddered in delight; it had been ages since she had gotten to go hunting without the fear of poachers, bicyclists or errant dog-walkers. Maybe this place had some redeeming qualities, after all. Humming to herself and licking the blood from her claws before she let them slide back into her fingers, she pushed herself to her feet.

A sudden sense of being watched prickled the hairs on the back of her neck and she spun around, dropping into a defensive crouch and baring her long fangs in a fierce hiss. Her heart thumped wildly until she recognized the intruder. Rising to her feet once more, she pressed her hand to her heart and glared at the silver-haired inu-youkai. "What gives? You almost scared me out of my skin!"

"Explain yourself" his cold voice cut her to the bone.

"Uhhh…" she realized abruptly she was wearing nothing but a camisole and cotton panties, drenched in blood and in her natural form.

His golden eyes narrowed as he waited for her answer.

"I'm thinking!" she snapped before she could stop herself. What was it about this man that so completely flustered her? She'd dated handsome men before, but they had been narcissistic fools, more concerned with the strategic tousling of their highlighted hair than making intelligent conversation. This man was not only gorgeous; he had a presence that commanded attention and obedience. His gaze was almost tangible, roughly caressing her skin with their golden fire. Suppressing a shiver, she crossed her arms and glared up at him, annoyed that any man could make her feel so vulnerable.

"You told me you were human."

"I didn't tell you I was human. You _assumed_ I was human." She hugged herself tighter and tried to regain her composure under his intense, unsettling gaze, a difficult feat even when _not_ clothed in nothing but underwear. Something cool and sticky trickled down her thigh and she glanced down, aghast at just how gory she was. The thin fabric of her camisole was soaked with blood, clinging to her skin and outlining the curves of her breasts. Poor 'Hello Kitty' had gone splatter punk. She grimaced and pulled the wet fabric from her chest. "I never once said: Sesshomaru, I'm a human being."

"You are hanyou," he intoned, tearing his eyes off the blood gleaming on the swell of her breasts. He could almost taste it as he imagined cleaning her skin with his tongue. He mentally shook himself, disgusted by his lack of control. Had it really been so long since he had lain with a female that he could have such thoughts about an unclean creature?

She wiped at the rivulet of blood on her leg and glanced up at him, "What's a hanyou?"

"A half-breed: one parent is human and one is youkai."

"Oh. Well, one of my great-grandfathers was human so that would make me…one eighth human. And I'm not a demon." She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, ears flicking nervously. Wolves howled at the edge of the forest and she jumped.

"You are youkai. I can smell it."

Some battles were simply not worth the fight, and who knows, maybe that's what they called weres around here. "Whatever. The wolves are here, so I'm gonna go clean up and get dressed," she edged toward the meat, feeling his eyes on her back. Gathering up the pieces she had piled, she resisted the urge to sprint back to the forest. Instead, she raised her head high and sauntered back to the place she had ditched her pajama bottoms, swinging her hips. 'Get an eyeful of _that_, Sesshomaru.' She knew he had been looking at her boobs and she also knew that she had a nice ass, even if she _did_ need to work off a couple of pounds.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Charlotte stepped into ring of firelight illuminating their campsite on the riverbank. She'd found vines and wide-leafed plants and had managed to tie up their dinner in a neat package. She'd also rinsed her camisole and underwear further down the stream, doing her best to get out the bloodstains. Though her clothes were still damp and her hair unstyled, she considered herself reasonably presentable. She smiled down at Rin and held up her prize, "Dinnertime!"

Rin stared up at her open-mouthed. "Kitty, your ears…"

Charlotte's smile faded; she'd forgotten to change back to her human form. "…well," she shrugged, "there's a reason people call me Kitty."

Her eyes sparking, Rin grinned and hopped to her feet. "Can I touch them?" She stretched a tiny hand toward her, pointing at her soft, golden ears.

"How about after dinner," Charlotte set down the package, relieved that the girl wasn't upset or scared. She traveled with demons, after all.

"What's that?" the little girl poked the ball of leaves and vines.

Charlotte paused a moment, not knowing how to say 'deer' or 'venison' in Japanese. She settled for saying the word in English and shrugging apologetically.

"Huh?"

"You know, with the…" again at a loss for the Japanese translation, Charlotte mimicked antlers with her fingers, pressing the backs of her hands against her forehead and crooking her fingers.

Rin laughed and shook her head.

"Deer," an emotionless voice supplied from the shadows.

Her face lighting up, Rin clapped her hands and squealed. Charlotte slit open the package with a sharp claw as Rin showed her the twigs she'd collected for skewers. Eyeing the large hunks of flesh on their makeshift wrappings, Charlotte found a couple of sturdy branches with forked ends and sunk them on either side of the small fire, the 'Y' ends up. Another sturdy branch impaling the largest chunks of meat made a nice rotisserie and the venison was soon hissing and sizzling over the flames. They strung the smaller pieces on Rin's skewers and sat back to admire their work.

"How long will it take?" Rin asked, her mouth watering.

Charlotte frowned, "I don't know. I like meat really rare, though."

"Can I touch your ears now?"

"I guess," she sighed, lowering her head so that the girl could get a good look.

"Oooh, they're soft. And pink inside!" her little finger tickled the long white hairs on the inside of her ear, making her ear flick reflexively. "They're like your brother's ears, Lord Sesshomaru! Except yellow instead of white."

"Rin! Do not mention that disgusting hanyou to his lordship!" Jaken snapped from the other side of the fire.

"What's wrong with being a hanyou?" Charlotte asked him, annoyed that he'd broken his silence.

Jaken glared at her, the firelight reflecting off his beady black eyes. "They have dirty blood, as do you, apparently."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. She should have known better than to ask that stupid toad a question. Sesshomaru had seemed to dislike hanyous as well; must be a racial issue. Turning to the demon lord and wincing as Rin tugged on her ear, she asked, "You have a brother?"

He stared at her, his golden eyes flat and dangerous.

"_Half_-brother, Inuyasha. He's an ignorant half-breed," Rin stated matter-of-factly. "What's this?" she fingered a small notch at the base of her ear.

"Oh, my brother Charley did that. He accidentally bit too hard when we were roughhousing as cubs. Mom was _pissed_."

"Is he a half-brother too?"

"No, he's my twin."

Rin was silent, her fingers releasing Charlotte's ears and her eyes distant. "My family was killed by bad men."

Charlotte's heart ached for the little girl, so young to have suffered such a tragedy. She ruffled her bangs and smiled at her. "But you have a new family, now, right?" Rin's face split into a sunny grin as she nodded. Charlotte glanced up at Sesshomaru and smiled. Cold or not, he couldn't be all that bad if he made Rin so happy.


	5. Indecent Woman

A/N:

FFnet

Shock1119: Rin didn't mean it in a mean or racist way, she was simply repeating what she'd heard.

Witch of Darkness: I like cheese :) As for cliché, well, I haven't read any Sess/OC stories and only a couple of Sess/Kag. Chances are, anything I think of will have been before. Oh well.

Forgotten angel: thanks for reading! This fic is fun.

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

* * *

Chapter 5 – Indecent Woman

"No, Rin, like this," Charlotte paused braiding the flower stems as she gathered her lips into a tight circle and blew a clear, clean note.

Rin crossed her eyes to stare at her own pursed lips, producing nothing more then a whisper of rushing air.

"Don't worry, you'll get it," Charlotte smiled at her reassuringly, selecting another long-stemmed flower and braiding it into the chain.

"Are you finished resting yet?" Jaken griped from underneath the giant yew. He had not been able to whistle, either.

Charlotte squeezed her eyes shut, imagining tearing into the imp with her claws. He'd squeal like a stuck pig…

"Kitty?"

"Yes, Rin?" her eyes popped open, her bloody fantasy cut short of the killing blow. What was it about him that annoyed her so much? His discordant voice? Perpetual bad mood? Flapping little beak?

"You looked strange for a minute," the girl's brow was furrowed, wrinkling the pale skin.

Charlotte pinched the braid with one hand and smoothed the creases from Rin's forehead with the other. "You shouldn't frown; it'll give you wrinkles. Then you'll have to have work done."

"What kind of work?"

"Never mind. There probably aren't any plastic surgeons around here, anyway." Breaking short most of the stems, leaving only a few long ones, she wove the longest stems into the top of the chain. She held up the crown of flowers and eyed it speculatively, pleased with her work. She hadn't made a daisy chain in _ages_. These flowers weren't exactly daisies, but they braided well enough. "Here ya go, kiddo," she set the wreath on the girl's head, who clapped her hands and giggled.

The jingle of a bridal and steady clomp-clomp of horse's hooves intruded on the peaceful afternoon. Charlotte climbed to her feet and dusted herself off, excitement building as she let her human features slide into place. Running her fingers through her disheveled hair, she tried to smooth the strands as best as she could. Picking her way through the field, she headed toward the road and the human she heard on it.

"Woman," Sesshomaru's cold voice stopped her in her tracks.

"What?" she glared back, her hands on her hips.

"You cannot approach a soldier on the road looking like that," his eyes roved over her derisively.

"Like what?" she glanced down at herself. Her clothes were clean, more or less. A hole was starting to form at the bottom edge of her camisole, but it had been there for a while.

"Woman."

"What?" exasperation colored her voice as she raised her hands in a questioning gesture. She didn't want to miss the chance to talk to this guy; he could have seen a traveling painter or…something.

"You hide your youkai blood like a coward," he sneered at her.

"Thanks. You really know how to make a girl feel special." She pursed her lips a moment, feeling the need to explain. "He'll…think I'm a freak. I never let strangers see my natural form." With a toss of her hair, she turned and stomped away. 'I probably look like a freak anyway, in my jammies with my hair all messy and my toenail polish chipped and peeling. I am seriously due for a facial and a peddie when I get home.' She listed in her mind the various luxuries in which she would indulge as she avoided gopher holes and thistles, keeping an eye out for the human. '… and I'll spend an entire day at the spa, followed by a night of heavy partying; I don't care who my friends hook me up with.'

The human finally came into view, fully armored and riding a charger, his topknot bouncing in time with the horse's steps. His grim face was creased and weatherworn and a scar traced from his hairline, across his face, and down his chin. His hand tensed on his sword when he noticed the woman standing by the side of the road, her hand shading her eyes from the afternoon sun. 'Demon or human,' he wondered as her stared at her fair hair and light eyes.

Charlotte waved at him and walked forward as he reigned in his steed. She stopped when the horse began to shy and toss its head. Sketching a quick bow, she used her most polite Japanese, "Excuse me, but I was wondering if I could ask you a question."

He stared down at her and frowned. She seemed human but she was not properly dressed and her accent was strange and stilted. A prostitute or slave from the continent, perhaps?

She stared up at him, waiting for a response. 'Not very friendly, is he. I wonder what that ass meant about how I looked.' The soldier didn't look like he was going to answer her, so she barreled on. "Have you seen a painter or artist come through here?"

He spurred his mount forward, ignoring its mincing steps and rolling eyes. He decided that it didn't matter who she was; she would make a fine diversion for the troops back at camp. She stood there stupidly, watching him canter toward her.

Confused, Charlotte watched the soldier ride forward. Only when he reached for her did she realize his intentions. She jumped back but too late; he had a grip on her hair and was trying to drag her onto the saddle. With a shriek of pain and anger, she grabbed his arm and pulled with one hand, swinging her other fist into his face. His face crunched sickeningly, blood spurting from his broken nose. He cursed her, losing his grip on her hair and his seat in the saddle as his horse reared and bucked. Charlotte leapt out of the way as the horse took off down the road, dragging the sputtering soldier behind it, his foot tangled in the stirrups.

The soldier's pack, dislodged from the saddle when the horse had spooked, lay abandoned in the middle of the road. If she remembered her history correctly, then there was a good chance that the pack contained loot stolen from conquered villages. She scrubbed a hand over her face; she didn't know what the soldier had called her, but she had a nasty suspicion.

She stomped back through the field, cradling her throbbing hand against her chest and dragging the pack behind her. Facing the tai-youkai, she met his amused gaze and gave him her best business face, the one she reserved for executives and pushy clients. "Sesshomaru, what's a …?" she asked sweetly, repeating the word that the soldier had hollered at her and ignoring Jaken's cackling.

The corner of his mouth barely quirked, "A whore."

Her suspicion was confirmed. "Point taken."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Charlotte grimaced and tried to tug close the front the kimono she had found in the soldier's pack and had subsequently exchanged for her 'Hello Kitty' pajamas. It was silk and well made: midnight blue with silver embroidery on the sleeves and hem. However, it was several inches too short and a little tight at her bust. The neckline plunged like a cocktail dress, showing a little more cleavage than she thought was necessary in a world where strange men tried to kidnap you off the side of the road. Rin had assured her that it was much more appropriate than her other clothes but she couldn't help feeling that she was about to pose for boudoir photos.

She'd left the circle of firelight, unable to maintain a cheerful disposition. The gravity of her situation was beginning to weigh on her, and the event with the soldier had reminded her that she was not on vacation and was probably not able to handle herself here. Digging the bottle and a couple of scrolls from the soldier's pack, she'd told Rin that she was going for a walk. She'd wandered until she found a mound of loosely stacked boulders. 'A giant's cairn,' she thought and shuddered. Who knows, in this place it could be true. Giant or no giant, she'd found a comfortable nook in the pile of rocks and had settled into her seat.

Taking another swig from the bottle of sake, she tucked one leg underneath her and brought the other up against her chest, abandoning her fight with the kimono for propriety. Pushing her glasses up her nose, she worked loose the cord of one of the scrolls and unrolled it, holding it against the rock next to her.

Deciphering the archaic writing by the bright light of the almost full moon, she determined that it was a financial record. Pausing a moment for another sip, she converted the date on the scroll to the current calendar. Keiko had taught her the formula and she only half remembered it, but she was able to come up with a rough estimate. It didn't make her feel any better.

Sesshomaru watched the cat youkai pour over the scroll, then remove her spectacles and scrub a hand over her face. It was a masculine gesture, out of place with her obviously feminine form. A nervous habit, no doubt; he'd seen her do it after the entertaining incident with the soldier. Wrapping an arm around her raised knee, she shifted her shape from the human form she had assumed earlier to what she called her 'natural form'. Raising the bottle to her lips, she drank deeply, the smell of rice wine wafting toward him on the cool evening breeze. Propping her head on her arm, she stared up at the moon and chewed on her bottom lip, ears flat against her skull.

He resented the curiosity, almost a compulsion, which had drawn him after her. Self-confident and silly, her energy seemed to light the space around her. Assuring himself that he would soon grow bored with her lack of proper respect and civilized manners, he stepped from the screen of trees and quietly approached. An ear cocked toward him, but she made no other motion to acknowledge his presence.

"You are drunk."

She snorted, a very unladylike sound. "Getting there, anyway." She offered the bottle to him, which he ignored.

"This Sesshomaru does not drink…wine."

Shrugging, she drained the contents and tossed it against the rocks, watching as it shattered into hundreds of sharp clay fragments. 'Probably shouldn't have done that,' she thought as she chewed on her lip. She had not found shoes in the pack. Sighing, she pictured the rows of trendy heels in her closet.

"The night is not safe for one such as you. You should return to camp."

"Oh yeah? And what am I?" her ears perked up as she leaned her body against the boulder next to her and gazed at him through half-lidded eyes.

"An indecent woman tainted by human blood." He refused to look at the expanse of creamy thigh exposed by kimono, which had ridden up her leg.

"Better than being a full youkai with a stick up his ass," she grinned lopsidedly at him, softening the harshness of her words. "Besides, I needed some space. I'm not used to being with other people all the time."

"Few speak to me like that and live," he tried to glare at her but he wasn't really angry. She was teasing him, he realized with a small start.

She snickered, "Good thing I don't live here." At this, her smile faded and ears flattened as the melancholy returned. "But I don't know how to get back. I came through a painting, you know. Five fucking hundred years in the past and five thousand miles west, give or take." She uncurled and pushed off the boulder, staggering slightly when she landed, catching herself against him. "Oops, sorry," she mumbled as she let go of his arm and righted herself. Stepping with exaggerated care, she managed to clear the pile of boulders without stepping on a shard of sake bottle.

He watched her meandering progress, then called after her, "Where are you going?"

She stopped and turned, covering a yawn with the back of her hand and blinking sleepily. "Back to camp."

"Camp is that way," he pointed in a direction perpendicular to her current heading.

"Oh yeah?" she wandered back over to him and yawned again. "I think maybe I drank too much."

"Indecent woman," he repeated and started back toward their campsite.

"Ha! You have no idea," she chuckled, following him through the forest.


	6. Full Moon

A/N:

FFnet:

Shipposfriend, forgotten angel, Shock1119

gothic-ember: Thanks! He is difficult to keep in character, mostly because there isn't much to pattern him after. Especially the dialog; he doesn't talk that much.

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 6 - Full Moon

The sun glared off of Ah-Un's bridal and no matter which way she turned her head, a shaft of light pierced her eyeballs, intensifying the pounding in her head. Jaken had taken much delight in her hangover, making a point to lecture Rin on the evils of rice wine, wanton women, and human blood in general. She rubbed her temples as he started in another good rant, a growl seeping from between her lips.

"See that, Rin?" he pointed at the grouchy woman trailing the group. "That is a prime example of the foolishness borne in human blood. Be sure you take note and do not succumb to it yourself."

Rin nodded solemnly, her eyes wide and serious. The girl had given Charlotte a wide berth since she'd growled at Jaken first thing in the morning. It wasn't that he hadn't deserved it; he'd whacked her with his staff to wake her. However, she usually acted as human as she possibly could, and humans didn't growl like that.

Sesshomaru was a problem unto himself. His graceful stride, long silver hair billowing behind him, sent twinges of desire through her body. The resonance of his voice caressed her like fingers under her skin. Her hyperactive libido only served to irritate her more and she desperately hoped that he didn't notice. With the way her luck was going, he was probably silently laughing at her.

The daylight dimmed as dark, ponderous clouds lumbered over the sun and thunder rumbled in the distance. Charlotte sighed in relief as the brilliant light dulled, blinking away spots from the backs of her eyelids. Another clap of thunder sounded overhead and the sky split open, drenching them with large, warm drops. Pinning her ears and hunching her shoulders, Charlotte growled with the roar of the falling rain.

She should have known better than to drink the night before the full moon. Stupid sake. Stupid pack. Stupid soldier. Her beast flared within her in response to another comment from Jaken, wanting to pounce on the impudent little toad. Fighting it back down, she glared at the back of his head. She hated being around people when her beast was so close to the surface of her mind; usually, she called in sick or worked from home. Rin had lost interest in his lecture, abandoning him for jumping into the rapidly forming puddles. Caught up in her own thoughts and internal battle, she entirely missed Sesshomaru's sharp glances.

XxxxxxxxxxxX

Charlotte quickly slipped through the trees, trying to quiet the hammering of her heart. No one had seemed to notice when she left, but she felt naked without the cover of true darkness. They would probably be happy that she was gone; she'd been horrible company the entire day, even after it had stopped raining. She'd thanked her lucky stars that Sesshomaru had disappeared late in the afternoon. He might have come after her, as he had the previous night. She glanced at the sky, inky blue overtaking the rosy tint at the horizon. She had a scant half-hour before the moon rose.

The thick forest broke around a small clearing encircled by ancient oak trees. A rough ring of flat stones lay in the middle of the clearing, mossy and almost overgrown by flowering vines. Pale, trumpet-shaped blossoms bobbed on their stems in the evening breeze. Charlotte stared at them in wonder, brushing the fragile blooms with her fingertips. Smiling softly, she pulled off her kimono and panties, folding them neatly, and sat on her knees in the grass just outside the ring of stones. She set the small pile of clothes beside her and waited for the change.

Her skin prickled with energy; the first sign that the full moon had risen. For as long as she could remember, she had taken her beast form on the night of the full moon. It wasn't something she could control but she could make it more comfortable by relaxing in privacy. She didn't even like transforming in front of her brother, who would be going through the same ordeal.

Usually, she roamed the Verdugos on nights like these, running through the chaparral forest and chasing rabbits. Once in a while, she stayed with her brother in Yosemite with the entire park to wander. In lion form, she lost the carefully maintained façade of humanity; even human thought was pushed to the side to be overwhelmed by her beast. Memories of these nights were vague and indistinct, more dream than anything else. 'Beast…that's what Mom always called it. I wonder if she meant youkai, demon?'

She rubbed her arms briskly to lay flat the tiny hairs that stood on end, cat ears twitching to catch the forest sounds. A branch creaked to her left but she didn't bother to check it out; she could feel the energy shift in her body that meant that she was starting her transformation. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and relaxed her muscles so that the change would be easy and painless.

A strong hand grasped her upper arm and hoisted her to her feet. Shocked out of her light trance, she grabbed at the arm that held her and drug her eyes open, fighting against the power that crackled through her, initiating her transformation. Cold yellow eyes glared at her, framed by silver hair.

Vision blurry and feet unsteady, she glared back, eyes shining red in the twilight. "Leave me alone!" she gasped, clenching her jaw as another wave of energy surged through her. She couldn't fight much longer; the moon's pull could not be denied.

"What's wrong with you?" Sesshomaru shook the trembling woman. Her head fell back and she shrieked, a high-pitched cry that stroked his youkai, teasing it to the surface. Her spine stiffened, then arched as she dug sharp claws into his arm. He released her and she dropped to the ground, her form blurring as youkai energy washed over her. Thickening and stretching, her body sprouted a thick coat of golden fur. Fingers shortened into curved toes on paws and her face lengthened into a white-whiskered muzzle. A long, yellow tail grew from her backside and twitched in the grass.

Sesshomaru stared at the large, golden cat that lay on her side at his feet, panting heavily, her tongue lolling from her mouth. Hanyous lost their demon powers periodically and became human, but he had never heard of one turning into an animal. The cat opened her eyes and raised her body onto her elbows, licking her chops and eyeing her surroundings. 'Not an animal,' he corrected himself. The cat's eyes still blazed with red youkai light. Hardly sparing him a glance, the cat pulled herself to her feet and padded into the forest.

He watched her leave, intrigued. Her behavior had been erratic all day and he'd finally left to escape the scent of desire that had surrounded her. At first, he'd thought it was the after-effect of the alcohol she had drunk the night before, but he soon realized that it wasn't the case. Normally concealed and suppressed, even in her natural form, her youkai had pulsed in her. There had been several times when he thought she might transform.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Dawn broke as the lion strolled into the clearing to the pile of clothes near the ring of stones. Shaking the dew from her coat, she sniffed the kimono, whiskers twitching. A rustle of fabric caught her attention and she lifted her head, ears cocked forward. Tail slashing the air as she advanced, the cat stared at the demon standing at the edge of the clearing. He didn't seem threatening, even less so when he kneeled to meet her at eye level. She sniffed his face, pink, wet nose leaving cold spots on his skin, and stored his sandalwood scent in her youkai subconscious. She allowed him to run a hand through her thick fur before licking his scent from her coat.

Stretching her long tongue in a yawn, she wandered back to the kimono, thick with her own scent. Her skin itched, a familiar, if not particular welcome, feeling and she shook her body again, sneezing. The itch intensified as the _other _fought its way back, pushing through the haze of feral thought and reshaping her body.

Charlotte lay still, disgusted by the wet grass tickling her bare skin but unable to do anything about it. Her entire body ached, each breath torture. Something had gone wrong when she had transformed, but her mind was too cloudy to remember what. Her kimono was draped over her with a whisper and she whimpered, the silk brushing against her skin like sandpaper, raw nerves burning in protest.

A cold voice spoke above her, garishly loud in the quiet of the morning. She recognized the voice but was having difficulty working out the words. A familiar sandalwood scent surrounded her as she was lifted into a sitting position. Crying out, she could only shiver as the kimono was drawn close about her shoulders.

"Open your eyes," the voice commanded, and this time she understood, opening her eyes obediently and bringing the face in front of her into focus. Those golden eyes, they had been there before her shift… She tried to jerk out of his grasp, whimpering as pain shot through her.

"Can you stand?"

She took a deep, shuddering breath and tried to answer. Her tongue felt heavy and thick in her mouth, but she managed a "No" on her second attempt.

"Is it always like this?"

"No." Finally, the jangling of her nerves was quieting and her body was beginning to respond to her commands. "No, only when I fight it." She managed a half-hearted scowl at the dog demon as she pulled her forearm out of his hand, slipping her arms into the sleeves of the kimono. She knew she should be furious that he'd interfered and was now looking at her almost naked body, but she simply didn't have the energy. His scent comforted her on a primal level and, for the moment, she let him help her.

Glancing around, she found her belt on the ground and wrapped it around her waist, tying it firmly. A lock of golden hair became tangled in the knot and she stared at it, confused. Pulling it out of the knot, she gave it an experimental tug. It was definitely attached to her head. She must have really resisted the change to alter her natural form. Grimacing, she recalled the summer of her twelfth year, when she fought it so hard that she'd ended up with a tail in her natural form until the next full moon. Wrapping a hand around her hair at the base of her neck and twisting it into a long rope, she pulled it over her shoulder. "What else has changed?" she asked the dog demon who was now standing in front of her.

He caught her chin in his hand and perused her face, "Your pupils are slit." He released her chin and drew himself to his full height. "But the crests on your back were there before you changed."

Annoyed by the reminder that he had seen transform, not once but twice, _and _had seen the crests she had kept hidden for thirty years, she drew her brows together in a glower. Unconsciously, she rubbed her lower back through the fabric of the kimono over the cinnamon-colored marks: two curly 'S's lying on their sides, one a reflection of the other. Her eyes she could deal with; they would look normal in her human form.

"You asked," he reminded her. "Do you change every full moon?" Charlotte nodded, embarrassment rising as she began to feel more like herself. "Is there anything else I should know about you?" His eyes narrowed at the truculent look she gave him. "You are traveling under my protection and I do not like surprises."

"I'm allergic to penicillin," she grumped, flicking her ears. Hell if she was going to volunteer any more information than was absolutely necessary. 'He's right, you know. He _is_ taking care of you,' a little voice in the back of her head nagged her. 'He's also the reason I feel so shitty,' she snapped at it.

He gave her a long, calculating look, but let the matter drop; he did not want to admit that he didn't know what penicillin was. 'Disposable' was a word that came to mind, but it didn't ring true. If she were truly expendable, he'd let her wander off and not bother to bring her back or simply run her through with Tokijin. Instead, he watched her, followed her, waited for her all night in this infernal clearing. Tenseiga's influence, he thought with growing irritation. It had compelled him to save Rin and now it was inuring him to this strange mix-breed. Without looking back, he left the clearing, trying to forget her lush curves and the silkiness of her skin.

Charlotte remained huddled on the ground, listening to him leave. Exhaling a rush of breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, she rubbed her crests again. That had one of the more awkward, humiliating moments of her life. She was used to being strong, independent and in control. She dated often but didn't let any man get too close, and she _never_ let one see her weak. A pang of homesickness gripped her heart and she moaned, longing for her cozy apartment, meddling friends, and tedious job. Boring, yes, but comfortable and safe.

"I want to go _home_," she groaned, burying her face in her arms. Heaving a long-suffering sigh, she pulled herself together and stood, straightening her kimono and running a hand through her now long hair. Regardless of what she wanted, she had to go back to the others. At the moment, traveling with them gave her the best chance of returning to her own time. Reluctantly following after the dog demon, she promised herself that she would not get into any more embarrassing situations. After all, what could possibly be worse than this?


	7. A Quick Detour

A/N: Thanks for reading! It's funny, this story is much quieter than my other one. I finished it, so I will be concentration solely on this one.

FFnet:

Shock1119, gothic-ember, forgotten angel

Witch of Darkness: I plan to discuss add bits and pieces of her culture as I go along.

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 7 – A Quick Detour

The town sprawled on either side of the river, neatly terraced rice patties almost glowing with green vitality. A wide raft made of saplings lashed together and steered by a bored man in a straw hat ferried townspeople from one side of the swiftly moving water to the other. The streets were thronged with people and animals, vendors displaying their goods from carts, stalls or a simple blanket on the ground. Shouting, laughing, cursing, and dealing, the people went about their business oblivious to the observers on the cliff high above them.

"We don't have time to dawdle," Jaken griped at the lion youkai staring down at the bustling town, punctuating his statement with a tap of the business end of his staff.

Charlotte knocked the staff away with a bat of her hand and glowered down at him. "You hit me with that thing one more time and I swear I will nail your ass to a tree."

"You wouldn't dare," he hissed but backed up a few steps.

"Try me."

"Charlotte?" Rin wandered over to where she was standing. Surprised to hear her given name from the child, Charlotte dragged her eyes from the imp.

"Hmm?"

"Do you live in a town like that?"

"Not exactly. The city I live in is much, much bigger."

"How much bigger?"

"Well, about four million people live in LA." Rin's eyes widened as she tried to comprehend the figure. "In downtown, the buildings reach thousands of feet into the air and even from the top of one, the city stretches from the ocean to as far as the eye can see. The roads are paved and people travel in self-propelled carts called automobiles."

Jaken snorted, "Impossible. Youkai would not transport humans."

"Automobiles aren't propelled by youkai; there aren't any other youkai, that I know of."

"B-but…" Jaken stuttered, having trouble with the idea that humans could outnumber youkai so completely.

"Until I came here, my parents and brother were the only other weres…youkai…I had met. Mom said there used to be more but now most are dead or gone. Only fifty years ago, there were several prides left but no one has heard from them for the last two decades." The image of her mother frantically trying to call her father's pride was etched into her memory. Hair disheveled, mascara running down her cheeks in black rivulets, she had argued with the telephone operator until she had been disconnected. Again and again, she had dialed the number, yowling until her voice was hoarse.

Barely ten years old, she and her twin had hugged each other, whimpering quietly, not yet understanding that their father was not coming home. Giving up on her mate's pride, her mother had tried to contact her own pride, cursing her decision to raise her cubs away from the protection of the Family. It had been the start of her mother's decline; even her cubs had not been able to soften the blow of losing her mate and extended family.

Once in a while, especially when the moon was almost full, Charlotte would feel a shiver of power and wonder if there was another were around. She suspected that not all the coyotes in the hills were simple animals, but she hadn't seen or talked to another non-human other than her brother since her mother had disappeared.

Cheeks puffed indignantly, Jaken crossed his arms over his chest. "I refuse to believe that weak, pathetic humans could defeat their youkai lords and take control."

Charlotte shrugged noncommittally, "Maybe it's different in Japan. I don't know; I've never been there. Well, not during my time, anyway."

"We've wasted enough time with this nonsense and we are keeping Lord Sesshomaru waiting. Come along, Rin." Jake huffed and stomped after the demon lord who had not stopped walking and was now much further down the trail they had been following.

Toeing the edge of the cliff, Charlotte peered over, looking for a way down. "I'll catch up later," she called after them, then hopped down to a shallow ledge several feet below. Ignoring Jaken's outraged shout, she picked her way down a steep path that seemed to have been cut by mountain goats, sometimes leaping down to the next outcropping in the cliff's face. For once, she was grateful that her brother had drug along on his "hikes" through the Yosemite Mountains; real cliffs were nothing like the plastic molds they had in at the gym.

She reached the bottom without incident and hurried toward the road leading to the town gate, pleased by her successful descent and refusing to think about the difficult climb back up. If she were lucky, she would find the artist who had painted that damn painting and she wouldn't _need_ to climb back up. She could go home with a week of vacation to spare, with no one but her brother aware of her absence. Wincing, she hoped that he hadn't reported her missing to the police.

At the very least, she could find a hair stylist and get her hair cut. Thankfully, the changes in her appearance hadn't been brought up. She supposed that Sesshomaru had explained her change to Rin and Jaken and as much as the situation had embarrassed her, she was relieved that she had been spared Rin's inevitable questions.

Stopping short, she suddenly realized that she was in her natural form. Indecision gripped her and she chewed on her bottom lip. Should she change into her human form before entering the town? She was dressed a little more appropriately but had no desire for a repeat of the attempted kidnapping of the other day. Jaken's reaction seemed to imply a much higher demon population in this time and place, so maybe her cat features wouldn't be too out of the ordinary. On the other hand, both he and Sesshomaru spoke as if they despised humans (excluding Rin) and she expected the feeling to be mutual.

"Fuck it," she thought, straightening her back and marching toward the gates. "I'm going as I am."

She regretted her decision soon after she entered the town. Hostile eyes followed her; dark looks beneath furrowed brows. Conversations stopped as she approached and people moved out of her way as if she were carrying a plague. It didn't help that she was several inches taller than most of the humans, including the men, and she was the only person who did not have black hair. She stuck out like a sore, or gilded, thumb.

'Concentrate on the objective: find the art district,' she repeated to herself as she wound through the streets, consciously shutting out the gestures and mutterings of "foul demon" directed toward her. The advantage of being taller than the crowd was that she didn't have to make eye contact with anyone; she simply stared over their heads, ears pinned flat to her skull, and tried to make herself as small as possible.

"Excuse me, my lady, but you seem to be under duress," a smooth voice spoke behind her. She turned to the man, ears perking up at the kind tone. Dressed in flowing violet robes, his short, dark hair pulled back in a tail, he was stood out almost as much as she did in the sea of kimonoed drudges. Handsome and only an inch or so shorter that her, he cut a strangely reassuring figure. "Oh my!" he took a step backward in surprise, and then recovered himself. "I see you are youkai! No matter, you are still beautiful and I cannot deny a woman in need," he inclined his head in a small bow. The rings on his staff tinkled merrily as he moved.

"Uh…thanks," At least he wasn't giving her the evil eye, she thought, relaxing her defensive posture. Flirting she could handle.

"Perhaps there is some way I can be of service?" he gazed into her eyes in a frank, forward manner that seemed to imply a different kind of servicing than was acceptable in polite company.

'I eat men like you for breakfast,' she ducked her head so that she could look at him through long blonde lashes. "I'm looking for the art district. Maybe you could take me?" she husked, letting her own innuendo hang in the air.

"O-of course I could…take you…" he slipped his arm around her waist and rested his hand on her back, leading her through the street and around the corner to another part of the open-air market. Walking with this man, she no longer garnered the unfriendly looks of before; he seemed to command some sort of respect. Glancing at him from the corner of her eye, she supposed she really didn't need to lay it on so thick, but she hadn't earned a reputation as a man-eater for nothing. A man trying to get into your pants was a man that could be controlled, and he _had_ started it. He smiled at her as she felt his hand begin to slide south.

Pulling his arm from her butt, she wrapping her arm around his and smiled demurely, fluttering her eyelashes. 'This is too goddamn easy.'

They wandered through the entire art district without finding anything remotely similar to the painting in her living room, finally ending up back at the town gates. Hot, tired, and disappointed, the sex-kitten act was beginning to grate on her nerves. She'd been aghast to learn that her horny companion was a monk but had continued the charade simply because his presence made her life so much easier. Now, unfortunately, she was having difficulty getting rid of him.

"Thanks for the offer, Miroku, but I really have to get back to my companions…" she tugged on the hand he had captured in his own.

"My friends and I have several rooms in a local inn," he tugged back, giving her his best seductive smile.

"Your friends?"

"I assure you, we would not be disturbed and I would be eternally grateful."

'I bet you would,' gently removing her hand from his tightening grip, she patted his cheek. "I'll think about it." Turning lightly, she sauntered out the gates and back toward the cliff.

"But…"

She grinned at him over her shoulder and wiggled her fingers, tossing her mane of golden hair, "Don't call me, I'll call you!"

XxxxxxxxxxxX

"You smell of human filth." It was the first words the inuyoukai had spoken to her since she had rejoined the group, breathless from the climb and the run to catch up. Both he and Jaken had ignored her until they'd stopped for the night. She preferred the looks the townspeople had given her to the now malevolent gaze of Sesshomaru.

Startled, she almost dropped the skewer she'd been handing to Rin. "I spent the afternoon in a human town."

He sniffed in her direction, disgust evident in his eyes, "One human, in particular."

"Oh…some guy showed me around." His eyes narrowed dangerously. "What? He took me to the art district. That's all." Not for lack of trying, she added silently. 'Why is he so angry? They didn't wait for me, so I didn't slow them down.'

"Indecent woman," he spat, dismissing her with a turn of his head.

"Hey, I did not go down there to fuck around. I was trying to find the artist who did that painting so that I can go home!"

"Watch your language," he snarled.

"Fuck you," she stated clearly, coldly and spun on her heel, stomping away from the clearing. Gorgeous or not, he really was beyond all patience. She hadn't deserved that kind of treatment. What did he expect, that she would check with him before she did anything? She thought he'd be happy that she was trying to get back home. He obviously didn't like her.

The ground was soft and uneven, threatening to trip her with twisted roots and snagging brambles. So wrapped up in her thoughts, she didn't notice that the forest floor was beginning to get more steep. Unconsciously moving downhill, she swatted through the dense undergrowth, muttering and cursing. She didn't know where she was going and didn't really care; all she wanted to do was to put space between her and that insufferable asshole. Pushing through some particularly dense ferns, she stepped forward – and her foot touched nothing but air. She yelped as she tumbled forward and slid down the slick slope, claws scrabbling for a hold in the mulchy earth. The slope ended abruptly at a short cliff and she plummeted several feet before landing in a crouch in a patch of fragrant herbs.

The minty aroma of the bruised plants surrounded her and she inhaled deeply, her irritation melting as her mind clouded and spun giddily. Flopping on to her side, she rubbed her cheek through the densely growing plants and purred loudly, a big, silly grin plastered across her face.


	8. Catnip Madness

FFnet reviewers: Witch of Darkness, forgotten angel, Shock1119, gothicember

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 8 – Catnip Madness

Rin fidgeted nervously, "She's been gone for a while…"

Sesshomaru glanced at her and sighed inwardly, running his hand over the soft fur of his Mokomoko-sama. Rin had not heard the far off cry, but he had. He was still very angry, with himself for the fit of jealousy when he'd smelled the unfamiliar male's scent on her skin and with her for wandering off, allowing herself to be touched by a man, then openly defying him. This anger was beneath him, not to mention the jealousy; what did he care of a dirty-blooded female with no sense of propriety?

He followed her scent through the forest to where she must have stumbled and fell. Her body had left a swath of disturbed soil and broken plants until it disappeared at the drop-off. Picking his way carefully down the slope, he peered over the edge. She was rolling languidly in a patch of weeds, her long blonde hair tangling over her face and the crushed plants. The rumble of her purr floated through the air.

She opened her eyes and smiled brilliantly up at him, propping herself up on her elbows. His breath caught in his throat; he'd never been smiled at like that, as if he were the only being in the world that mattered. Giggling, she let herself fall back into the plants and closed her eyes again, golden ears cocked carelessly to the side.

He leapt off the cliff and landed next to her, wondering what had caused such a drastic change in behavior. Kneeling down and breaking a stem of the aromatic herb, he brought it up to his nose and sniffed it delicately. He thought he recognized it; the name was on the tip of his tongue but escaped him for the moment. A warm hand wrapped around his arm and he raised his golden eyes to meet hazel-green ones, pupils dilated to the point that the slit was unnoticeable. She was smiling again, wetting her lips with her tongue as she gazed at him with heavy-lidded eyes.

"You're an ass. But that's ok because you are _fine_."

He blinked, startled at her bluntness and the heavy scent that curled around her. He felt his body responding and could only sit still, fighting against his own need. She chuckled huskily and rubbed her cheek against his face, breathing in his scent. "You smell good, too."

Growling, he shook her hand off his arm and grabbed her shoulder. "Stop this nonsense," he bit out between clenched teeth. She blinked slowly and shook her head as if to clear it, then focused her bleary gaze back on him. 'Drugged… damn cat,' he realized what the plant must be.

Squirming out of his grasp, she nuzzled into the fur of his Mokomoko-sama, her youkai crackling around her as she crawled into his lap. Kneading his back with half-sheathed claws, she leaned into him, grazing fangs over the vein in his neck and nipping at his earlobe, the length of her body rubbing against him. The friction finally broke his will and he buried his hand in her hair, roughly grabbing it at the nape of her neck and pressed his lips to hers.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed him back, fiercely, passionately, her soft lips massaging his stiff ones. Her purr deepened as he opened his mouth and their tongues met, twining together in a fight for dominance.

With a growl, he shifted their weight, pinning her to the ground with his lower body as he shrugged out of his armor. Wrapping a leg around his waist, she arched her back and turned her head to the side, exposing the flesh of her throat. Licking a path from her jaw, down her neck and into the hollow between her breasts, he savored the taste of her salty skin, flavored with catnip.

'Catnip,' he groaned, remembering that she was not in her right mind. Pulling away despite her yowl of protest, he stared down at her flushed face. He would not take a woman under the influence, even if she had initiated it.

Face gathering into a petulant pout, she grabbed his Mokomoko-sama and pulled, rolling away from him until she was completely wrapped up in the white fur. He snatched at the end, missing it by a hair, and she was on her feet in a flash. Giggling hysterically, she raced off into the forest, the long white fur trailing behind her.

Sesshomaru stared at her retreating form in utter disbelief. In all of his long years, no one had dared touch, let alone run off with, his Mokomoko-sama. Too shocked to be angry, he sprang to his feet and raced after her.

XxxxxxxxxxxX

Charlotte woke to running water. Disoriented, her first thought was that she'd slipped and bumped her head while getting into the shower. 'That can't be right,' she rubbed a hand across her eyes, trying to clear her brain. She'd definitely fallen; she fingered the knot on the back of her head. Something soft and furry tickled her nose and she sneezed. Opening her eyes, she blinked groggily up stormy face of the dog demon above her.

"You smell like catnip," she mumbled, sniffing in his direction. She frowned thoughtfully, "So do I." The color drained from her face as the implications hit her and she clutched at the white fur wrapped around her body and sat up, bringing it in front of her face. She stared at it, horrified. 'No wonder he's mad…' with a frantic struggle, she managed to unwind it from around her.

She refused to meet his eyes; instead she stared at the misty froth at the base of the waterfall as she held the boa out to him. "Sorry. I'm finding all sorts of new and interesting ways to embarrass myself." He was silent as he took it, watching the emotions flit across her face. The realization that she more upset by having taken the Mokomoko-sama than anything else helped to lessen his annoyance.

She winced as the memories that crowded in on her: falling into the plants, kissing him, stealing his boa and running…how had she ended up unconscious by this waterfall? Finally looking at him from the corner of her eyes, she hugged her arms to her chest. "I appreciate that you didn't take advantage of the situation." Most men wouldn't have stopped. Was he honorable or just not interested? Would she have minded if he hadn't stopped? 'Probably not…ya big ho.' She rubbed the throbbing lump on her head, trying to analyze her thoughts through the persistent haze.

He inclined his head, a hint of a smirk touching his lips as if he could read her thoughts, "Do you attack every man you meet in a catnip patch?"

She looked at him sharply, "No, I usually stay away from the stuff. I _fell_ in. It was an _accident_." He wouldn't know that it lowered inhibitions. She'd only respond like that to men she found attractive, but she wasn't about to enlighten him: that kind of information would give him way too much power. 'Now he _really_ must think you're indecent,' her conscience spoke up. She scowled at the waterfall, 'I don't care what he thinks.' The little voice sounded almost sarcastic when it replied, 'Sure you don't.' Irritated, she flicked her ears to shake off the moisture that had collected there. 'I don't, and I'm not arguing with myself about it.'

Clearing her throat, she glanced at him again, "How did I…" He hefted the rock in his hand and raised an eyebrow. Her eyes widened incredulously, "You threw a _rock_ at me?" That would explain the painful knot on the back of her head, despite the soft, earthy bank on which she lay. Laughter bubbled out of her; his bored look only made her laughter. She should be mortified, disgusted, angry, but the sheer ridiculousness of the situation struck her funny and the lingering catnip didn't help. Clutching her stomach, she howled until tears ran out of her eyes. Her giggles had finally subsided when the soft 'plop' of Sesshomaru's other rock hitting the dirt sent her into gales of more laughter.

"It isn't that funny," he remarked, staring at the lion youkai in bemusement.

"I know!" she gasped, trying to smother the last of her giggles. "Can't help it. I know, I know: indecent." Wiping her face and smoothing her hair, she pulled herself together.

"Indeed."

"I need a bath." He stared at her impassively, but she had the feeling that he was annoyed. She sighed; it should be obvious. "I have to get the catnip off or I'll be loopy for days. And I'm muddy. You should bathe, too." She waved vaguely at him, painfully aware of he smell of catnip on him. He raised an eyebrow at her suggestion but didn't say anything.

Turning her back on him to hide the blush at her slip of the tongue, she eyed the waterfall. It was tall but not very big and fell from a fissure in a rock wall into a small, shallow pool that barely collected water before emptying into a stream that tumbled down the hillside. Ferns and moss covered the wet rocks. It was the closest thing to a shower that she had seen in a week. Stepping into the pool that was no deeper than her knees, she stood under the rushing water, clothes and all, flattening her ears to her head to prevent water from getting in.

The cold water was cleansing, purifying, and she felt immensely better after only a few minutes. The silk of the kimono was ruined of course, but it had to be washed, too. She glanced at the tall demon standing on the bank. He was glaring off into the distance, but seemed to feel her gaze and turned his head to look back at her.

The setting sun caught his eyes and ignited them with a golden fire. His hair glowed, surrounding his head with a nimbus of rainbow colors. She couldn't help staring, her heart hammering in her chest and her lips tingling with the memory of their kiss. What was it about him that affected her so deeply? No guy had ever gotten to her like this. He glanced away, breaking the spell, and she sighed in relief. 'I have to get home or I'm going to get into trouble.'

She climbed out of the pool and wrung the water out of her hair, careful to keep her eyes down. 'Think unsexy thoughts, think unsexy thoughts,' she repeated to herself until her heart calmed. Sesshomaru's rock lying on the ground caught her attention and she glanced down at her soggy, ill-fitting clothes, 'So much for the sophisticated, glamorous city girl,' she though, unsuccessfully trying to stifling another giggle.

Her good humor lasted the entire walk back to camp, in large part due to residual catnip in her system. She'd made catnip tea before; it was a mild aphrodisiac apart from lowering inhibitions. However, she'd never been exposed to so much of the living plant. Besides rolling in it, she'd eaten quite a bit of it, too.

Jaken managed to kill the buzz within minutes of them returning.

"You idiotic, good-for-nothing, cat! How dare you inconvenience Lord Sesshomaru!" he brandished the two-headed staff in her face.

The tirade took her aback. "Hey! I…"

"Silence, wench!" he whacked her with the staff, by coincidence hitting the still tender spot on her head. She didn't look it, but she was actually a fair staff fighter: as children, she had taken dance classes while her brother had taken martial arts. However, he'd tried out all of his new moves on her and she'd learned to defend herself fairly quickly. Eventually, he'd taught her offensive techniques and they'd sparred with wooden staffs until they were bruised and exhausted.

Old reflexes came to the surface and she snatched up the staff, twisting it out of Jaken's grasp and booting him into the air with a well-aimed kick. With a quick thrust, she threw the staff at the airborne imp. The tip caught the back of his jacket and buried itself in the trunk of a tree with a crack, pinning the imp against the tree. Silence descended on the camp, broken only by the crackling of the campfire and the twang of the staff, vibrating in place. Jaken stared at her, beak open and flapping but nothing coming out.

She felt eyes on her back and turned around, meeting Sesshomaru's surprised stare. "What? I told him I'd nail him to a tree if he hit me again."

"Shall I nail you to a tree?"

She gaped at him, barely remembering to close her mouth. He must have no idea how that sounded, but she couldn't resist. "You want to nail me? Got your spike ready?" She gazed at him from under her lashes, the corner of her lips quirking in a small grin. 'Serves him right for not washing off the catnip.'

"M-my lord! Help me!" Jaken found his voice as he struggled to reach the base of the staff that had him pinned in place.

She was teasing him again. He had no idea what she was talking about, but the innuendo was fairly clear. "The catnip is still affecting your behavior", he said, ignoring the pleading of his servant. She rolled her eyes. He was right, but she wasn't going to admit it out loud.

"…Charlotte?"

"Yes, Rin," she turned to the child who was staring at her with wide, shocked eyes.

"You didn't hurt him, did you?"

"No, but I did warn him."

"But…"

"You should never make empty threats, Rin: always be prepared to follow through. Otherwise, people won't take you seriously."

Her lips rounded in a perfect 'o' and she nodded slowly.

"Just so," a deep spoke from the evening's shadows. "My Lord," Stepping into the firelight, a burly demon bowed low and reverently. Sharp tusks curving from his bottom jaw and his short, stubbed nose reminded Charlotte of a hog or a boar. He glanced surreptitiously at her, his predatory eyes lingering over her breasts, outlined by the wet silk. 'He looks like he wants to take a bite. Now I know how restaurant lobsters feel. Eww.' Her skin crawled in revulsion.

"Kato," Sesshomaru fixed the youkai with an impassive look. The boar youkai was one of his scouts and must have had good reason to seek him out. He should have sensed him earlier, but the scents of catnip and cat were distracting him. He definitely did not like him looking at Charlotte, but neither did she, so he stifled the growl that was threatening to rise out of his chest.

"My Lord, the Southern lord has sent word that he is paying you a visit."

"Why do you disturb me with such news?"

"He is due to arrive at the mansion in three days." Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed slightly and Kato hurried on. "We would have informed you sooner, but we just received his message two days ago."

Sesshomaru yanked the Staff of Two Heads free of the tree, not even acknowledging the sobbing imp at his feet. "We will leave tomorrow."

Charlotte's muddled thoughts slowed to a crawl. If she went with them, she'd be abandoning her search for a way home, but she didn't like the idea of wandering the countryside alone. So far, she'd been able to get herself out of most of the predicaments she'd gotten herself into, except for the catnip, but even the attempted kidnapping hadn't been very serious. If a demon attacked her, such as that creepy boar, she'd be in trouble unless she had some sort of weapon. She refused to consider the alternative: using her innate ability to channel energy. Her mother had taught her that it was too dangerous to use and she would be destroyed if others found out about it.

"What's wrong, Kitty?" Rin's quiet question broke her reverie.

"Nothing", she lied quickly. She also didn't know her way around or anything about the culture of Medieval Japan. She'd be wandering blindly, just waiting for a disaster. She worried her lip with a sharp fang, 'Should I go or should I stay?'


	9. Sibling Rivalry

A/N: I read somewhere that we can't post reviewer responses in our chapters anymore? Hmmm.

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 9 – Sibling Rivalry

Charlotte stretched, careful not to fall from the branch she'd slept on. She'd opted to sleep in the tree mainly because she didn't think Sesshomaru's scout, Kato, could climb trees. He gave off a vibe that creeped her out, and she knew from experience to stay well out of his reach. Rubbing a kinked shoulder, she scanned the campsite for him. Both he and Sesshomaru were absent, so she dropped out of the tree, landing gracefully in a crouch with her hands between her feet.

Rin giggled over her breakfast: the last of the dried, smoked venison. Charlotte looked at her questioningly. "You really looked like a cat, Kitty."

Charlotte wrinkled her nose, but grinned back. "I'm a _lion._" She eyed what was left of the venison with distaste. It had held up surprisingly well, but it had gone past the point of appetizing. "I think I'll go find something fresh for breakfast."

"Like what?"

'Coffee,' she thought. It was the longest amount of time she'd gone without the beverage in a good twelve years and she sorely missed it. "Berries, eggs, I don't know. Anything but that," she pointed at the offending jerky.

"Eggs?"

"Yeah, we could boil them or something. Jaken?" The imp jumped at his name and hunched his shoulders.

"Yes… lady?" his voice was almost respectful.

'I should have known,' Charlotte smirked. 'He's just a bully.' "Charlotte is fine. Should I get something for you, too?"

"No, thank you." She shrugged and wandered off, wondering how she would go about finding eggs. Wistfully, she pictured the face of the corner market's owner: wrinkled, careworn, wearing a sour expression. He always had eggs in stock… and bacon. 'Would boar youkai make good bacon? Maybe in his beast form…' she mussed as she climbed over the trunk of an enormous tree that had fallen long ago.

At least the search would give her time to figure out what to do. She really liked hanging out with Rin… and Sesshomaru, she admitted finally. Maybe too much. Jaken might even be tolerable, now that she'd set some boundaries. But going with them would be all but admitting defeat. Was she prepared to stay in this era? She didn't belong here, couldn't take care of herself. How long would it be before she'd worn out her welcome and Sesshomaru kicked her out of his house? She'd never been a freeloader and had always prided herself on her independence.

So wrapped up in her thoughts, she didn't notice the bird until it dive-bombed her, shrieking and clawing at her hair. Yelping in surprise, she ducked and swatted at it. It flew back up into the trees, scolding her shrilly. 'Ha! I bet it's protecting a nest…' she inspected the branches above her, finally spying the mess of twigs and mud in a tangle of limbs and leaves. Digging her claws into the bark of the tree, she climbed the trunk, shooing away the bird when it got too close. Soon, she was eye-level with the nest. Four brown, speckled eggs sat nestled in the bottom. They were within arm's reach and she figured that she could take the entire nest as a makeshift basket. She reached out and almost touched it, then hesitated. These weren't dead chicken's eggs, raised specifically for human (or werelion, in her case) consumption. These eggs had baby birds in them.

Sighing, she retracted her hand and scaled back down the tree. 'Some carnivore you are,' her beast scoffed at her. 'I can't eat that bird's babies,' she growled back, ducking another rush by the irate mother. 'You have no problem eating _baby_ back ribs, veal, or lamb,' it reminded her. 'Yeah, but I didn't have to steal them from their mothers. Besides, I did kill that deer.' Derisive laughter filled her head, '_Pussy_ cat.'

She stomped away, ignoring the jibe. Since when had her beast, youkai, whatever, been so vocal? But it had a point: how could she travel alone if she couldn't even take bird's eggs?

The hem of her kimono caught on a low-growing bush and she bent to unsnag it. The bush was bursting with small berries, some green, some violet. She gave it an appraising stare: they looked similar to blueberries. Plucking one and popping it into her mouth, she was fairly certain that even if the berries were poisonous, she probably wouldn't get sick. It tasted ok, no bitterness to indicate poison. With a shrug, she picked a wide leaf from a nearby plan and filled it with berries. Wrapping the ends of the leaf over the berries, she had a serviceable package.

She was about to make her way back to the campsite when the sounds of metal scraping against metal assaulted her ears. 'What on earth?' she knew she should go back, but her curiosity got the better of her. Following the ringing and clashing, she had only gone a short distance when the forest ended at a large field. Sesshomaru was faced off against a man in baggy red clothes with silver hair and small, triangular ears. Charlotte touched her own cat ears, fascinated.

The man in red roared and rushed Sesshomaru, swinging an enormous fang-shaped blade. Sesshomaru parried it easily with a wicked-looking sword that pulsed with evil energy. He cut a truly dashing figure: refined, elegant and deadly. The other man was not so bad himself. Wild and impulsive, he moved with a grace of his own. Momentarily, she forgot her food-hunting mission and simply ogled the pair.

Sango thrust the tip of her Hiraikotsu into the soft earth and watched the duel with a speculative eye. "Is it my imagination, or is Sesshomaru fighting with a little more flare than usual?"

"It's not your imagination," Kagome replied as Sesshomaru twirled Tokijin in a bright arc.

"I wonder if it has anything to do with her?" Miroku pointed to the woman standing on the other side of the field. He squinted against the light; she seemed familiar. With a start, he realized that she was the youkai he had met in town yesterday. She had seemed so promising… he slipped away from the girls and made his way toward her.

"Hey, monk!" Sango shouted after him. Far enough away to avoid a beating, he waved a hand over his should and kept moving. Kagome rolled her eyes.

"He's cruising for a bruising," Shippo commented from Kagome's shoulder. Kagome nodded and put a reassuring hand on her furious friend's shoulder.

Charlotte's attention was snapped away from the fight by a firm squeeze of her bottom. Startled, she whirled, suppressing a grimace when she recognized the monk from the town. Too annoyed to play the vixen, she snapped, "Excuse me, but did my ass have a 'Please Grab Me' sign on it?"

Miroku stared at her, taken aback by the change in her demeanor. Giggling, blushing, maybe a kiss was what he'd expected. However, he barreled on, sure that when she'd got over her surprise, she'd change her tune. "You've returned to me! Have you reconsidered the offer of bearing my children?"

'I guess I deserve this,' she sighed. "Thanks, but you really aren't my type."

"I can promise you an unending night of pleasure…"

"Look dude," she said, fixing him with a no-nonsense stare and held up two fingers. "There are two important dimensions to a man. Height," she gestured above her head, " and length." She held her hands apart, measuring a length of air. "You don't meet the first criteria, so I'm not interested in the second."

"But…"

"Sorry, no." She turned back to the fight, suddenly aware that the sounds of battle had ceased. Both men had paused and were watching them, Sesshomaru with his typical impassive expression, the other man with a resigned, disgusted frown. Miroku missed this detail and opted for another tushy squeeze, convinced that she was merely playing hard to get.

"Knock it off!" she shook open the packet of berries and smashed it into his face, just before being pushed aside by a large white blur. She stumbled backward, tripping over a gopher hole and falling on her butt in the long grass.

"You," Sesshomaru snarled and grabbed the monk by the neck, hoisting him into the air and bringing him up to his face. His hilt of his sword swung back and forth, anchored by the point buried in the ground. Miroku burbled and scrabbled at the iron grip, his face, already purple with berry juice, rapidly turning darker.

"Sesshomaru, you bastard, put him down!" the red-clad demon yelled, leaping toward them. Two women were also running over, one with a huge boomerang, another notching an arrow into her bow. The second was wearing a sailor-style school uniform, Charlotte noted incredulously.

'What on earth?' Another gurgle from the unfortunate monk distracted her from the girl. "Sesshomaru, what are you doing?" she cried, horrified.

His eyes slid toward her, chips of ice that were touched with red. He should have recognized the scent yesterday but the mix of town smells must have masked it. To think that the cat had consorted with his worthless brother's friend… "He's the human from the town." The two women skidded to a stop close by, horror and fear reflected in their eyes.

She gaped at him. Did he recognize him from his scent? "Yeah, but I took care of it. Please put him down!"

He dropped him unceremoniously and turned, advancing on her and glowering. "With fruit?" he growled.

She reared back and glanced at the purple-stained monk gasping for breath on the ground, 'Well, I usually use a drink, but…yeah." She stifled a snicker with a hand over her mouth, her nose tickled by the smell of catnip still heavy on his clothes.

His eyes narrowed dangerously. Did she think this was a joke? He was beside himself with fury and had half a mind to finish off the impertinent monk just to relieve some frustration. Flexing his claws, he watched the cat smother another giggle.

"I told you to wash off the catnip," she mumbled and backed up until the minty odor no longer affected her.

He dismissed her abruptly, restoring his expressionless mask and pulling his sword out of the ground and sheathing it. Taking a deep breath, Charlotte skirted around him and approached the girl in the uniform. She stopped short when the demon with white ears leapt between, growling. "Stay back, bitch. You're with that bastard brother of mine, so you're no good."

The girl watched her warily from behind his back, "Inuyasha, I don't think…"

"Inuyasha? The ignorant half-breed?" Charlotte asked in surprise, cocking her head. His growl deepened and he raised his sword. "I'm Charlotte, the indecent woman." She extended a hand, which he ignored. Belatedly, she realized that she should have bowed; she let it drop back to her side and bent slightly at the waist.

"It's nice to meet you Charlotte," the girl managed before being shushed by the hanyou. "Inuyasha…"

"Don't even say it," he warned.

"Cat. We're leaving this rabble." Sesshomaru's voice broke over her like an ice flow.

"But…"

"Now!" he barked, instilling alpha-male authority into his command. She jumped, her body complying despite her desire to stay and chat.

Throwing up her hands in exasperation, she stomped up to him. "For fuck's sake, she's…"

"Silence!" Her mouth snapped shut as he turned from her and strode into the woods.

The little group of shard hunters watched them go, confusion written on their faces.

"Well, that was weird," Kagome said as she stepped from behind Inuyasha. Sango nodded and Miroku wiped smashed berries from his face. Inuyasha tucked his arms into the sleeves of his haori and scowled.

"Keh."

XxxxxxxxxxxX

'What did I do this time?' Charlotte bored holes into Sesshomaru's back with her eyes. 'I wasn't the one playing grab-ass. I wasn't even flirting.' And even if she had been flirting, there'd been no reason for him to overreact like that. He didn't own her; they weren't even dating. She thought he'd jump at the chance to get rid of her.

"That girl wasn't from around here, you know," she finally spoke up, breaking the uncomfortable silence as they trudged through the forest. "She might have known how I could get home." He showed no sign of having heard her. She sighed, but had another go at it. "So, that was your brother?"

He took so long to speak that she thought he was going to continue to ignore her. "What were you doing there?" The uncharacteristic anger was gone; his voice was flat and emotionless.

"Oh, I went to look for breakfast and stayed to admire the view," she cringed at her own flippant words. 'Damn catnip. He probably suspects something anyway; you were all over him yesterday.' He made no comment and they finished the walk without speaking.

Kato bowed to his lord as they entered the campsite. Charlotte groaned inwardly; she'd hoped that he'd left for good.

"Kitty! Did you find eggs?" Rin jumped up from her seat and skipped over to her.

"Uhhh…. no. And I lost the berries," she shrugged apologetically.

"That's ok. I'm not that hungry, anyway." Neither was Charlotte; she hadn't had much of an appetite since her transformation on the full moon. She'd caught and eaten something while in her beast form. She hadn't thought much of it after changing, but now she wondered what it was; her dim memory of it revealed nothing that she recognized. For all she knew, it could have been another demon.

"There's no time for that anyway," Jaken squawked from beside Ah-Un. "We need to get moving."

"Rin, you, Jaken, and the cat will ride Ah-Un." Sesshomaru ordered as Kato made an adjustment to the dragon's bridle.

"Okay!" Rin ran over to the two-headed beast and climbed up, seating herself behind the imp.

"Aren't you getting on, Kitty?" Rin called from the back of Ah-Un.

"Ummm," she chewed on her lip.

"Get on," Sesshomaru's cold order grated on her nerves.

"I have to find that painting," she protested irritably. His domineering attitude was getting old quickly.

"Kato, escort the cat to Ah-Un."

"I'm getting on already," she avoided the hands of the boar youkai and scrambled onto the back of the dragon behind Jaken and Rin, shooting the dog demon a withering glare. 'He gets mad when that monk touches me but he's ok with that creep? I can't believe I almost screwed that asshole,' she thought as the dragon took flight, Sesshomaru flying ahead on a fluffy cloud he had conjured out of thin air. Kato saluted smartly as he watched them go, then disappeared into the forest.

XxxxxxxxxxxxX

Ah-Un landed lightly in a wide courtyard, waking his passengers nonetheless. Charlotte glanced around, surprised that she had dosed off in the first place. Irritated that her decision had been made for her, she'd fumed for a good hour as the landscape swept by underneath the dragon. She'd eventually come to the decision that she would sneak out of the mansion in the middle of the night and continue her search on her own.

Rin slid off the dragon, followed by Jaken. Charlotte swung her leg over his back and pushed off, landing neatly on her feet. It really was a nice place, she grudgingly admitted. Perched on a ledge of the mountain, it had a nice breeze and the air was cool and refreshing. The valley stretched behind them and the tall gates of the mansion rose in front of them, the wall built of closely fitting stones and the doors made of wood, intricately carved with abstract, curvy designs. As beautiful as they were, she didn't doubt that they were strong.

The gates opened with a whisper and a plainly dressed male youkai with short blue hair hurried forward, taking the reins of the dragon. Another youkai, better dressed and female, took Rin's hand and lead her into the gates. More demons rushed up, chattering, bowing, but none took notice of Charlotte, who standing to the side and out of the way.

Sesshomaru strode in and she followed, not really sure why she was there in the first place. Ears pinned flat, she felt almost as uncomfortable as she had in the village. The servants that did look at her summarily dismissed her with cold, unfriendly glares. No matter that she was several inches taller than all of the females, they looked down their noses at her with disdain. Drawing herself to her full height, she stared at Sesshomaru's back and refused to make eye contact.

They had traversed great halls and entered countless ornate doors before Sesshomaru stopped his relentless pace. "Aoi," he stopped a diminutive demoness who had tried to make herself invisible as they passed.

"My Lord?" she kept her dark eyes downcast, iridescent black bangs hiding her homely face.

"Show this woman to the women's quarters down the hall. See that she is dressed appropriately," he opened another carved door and shut it behind him, expecting his order to be followed.

Aoi bowed to the closed door, "Yes, my lord." She shot Charlotte an annoyed look, and then gestured to her to follow her. Charlotte glanced at the door in apprehension and hurried after Aoi's retreating figure.

"Can I have a bath?" she asked the little demon.

Throwing open the door to a suite of well-appointed rooms, Aoi glared at her. "You're filthy. To be dressed 'appropriately' would require a bath. Maybe a disinfection."

Charlotte glared back as she stepped over the threshold, "It had better be hot." Aoi sneered at her and slammed the door behind her.

She had to admit the suite was beautiful. The first roomed seemed to be a sitting room furnished with cushions, low tables, and a shelf with several scrolls. Through an open shoji screen, she could see a bedroom, complete with wide futon. The pillows and coverlets were made of fine silk and painted with fanciful designs of flowers and youkai. Both rooms had tall windows with spectacular views of the valley, and the sitting room window served as a makeshift door that opened onto a small balcony.

A sharp knock announced the return of Aoi, who opened the door without waiting for permission to enter. She stomped through the sitting room and into the bedroom, setting down a large basin of steaming water. "Bathe," she tossed Charlotte a rough cloth and huffed out of the room.

Charlotte caught the cloth and stared after her in confusion. 'What the hell is her problem? Do all demons have such bad attitudes?' Stripping out of the ruined silk, she scrubbed herself clean with the cloth and scalding hot water, rinsing her hair in the dregs. Though not what she'd had in mind, the bath still felt good.

Aoi entered again, this time without knocking. She laid a bundle of brightly colored fabric on a rack near the futon. "Put these on," she snapped, gesturing to the pile. "And these," she laid a variety of hair ornaments on a low table near the clothes rack. Without further explanation, she left Charlotte to her own devices.

Letting herself air dry, Charlotte sorted through the garments on the rack, enjoying the feel of silk on her fingers. 'What am I dressing for, anyway?' she mussed, astonished by the quality of the material. There were three separate kimonos: one in plain white, one in canary yellow, and one in a soft purple embroidered with yellow flower petals. A yellow sash lay on top of the collection, with a pair of toed socks and wooden sandals. The order in which to wear the garments seemed fairly obvious, but she had no idea how to tie the sash such that it made the big, fluffy bow in the back. Fighting with sleeves that covered her hands, she wrapped the yellow silk around her waist twice and knotted it to the side, letting the ends hang long.

Rummaging through the many drawers in the dressing table, she found a brush, a small mirror, and cosmetics. Teasing the knots out of her long blonde hair, she brushed it until it glistened in the afternoon sun that filtered through the windows. She twisted the top half of her hair into a neat bun, fixing it in place with one of the combs. The rest of her hair she left long and shining.

The cosmetics took a little figuring out, but she managed to line her eyes with a dark paint and add a hint of a blush to her cheeks and lips. With a fine-toothed hair comb, she applied the dark paint to her eyelashes. Surveying herself critically in the small mirror, she decided that she liked what she saw.

Slipping on the tabis and shoes, she was surprised that they fit pretty well. Finding nothing else to do, she took her time inspecting the hangings on the wall. Made of woven straw or rice, they were painted with scenes of female youkai posing in gardens or lavish rooms. Most were inuyoukai, but other breeds were present as well. She almost missed a particularly interesting painting: it was almost covered by another hanging. Moving aside the top wall hanging, she giggled. The scene depicted reclining youkai in various states of undress being greeted by their lovers. It hid another peculiar feature of the room: a narrow door that seemed to lead into the next room. She jiggled the handle but the door was locked.

Aoi burst in to the room and glared at her. "Follow, …" she called Charlotte an unfamiliar name. She wasn't sure if she should be offended or not. Scowling, Charlotte strode after her, forcing the smaller demon to pick up her pace to stay ahead.


	10. Moving Picture

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long to post (I meant to get it out on Thursday) - I had to start beading my new costume. If you've ever looked at beadwork and wondered if it takes as long to do as it looks, the answer is yes, it does.

Thanks for your feedback!

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi

Chapter 10 – Moving Picture

Sesshomaru surveyed the audience chamber with expressionless eyes, satisfied that order to his household to assemble quickly had been followed. The only people missing were the members of the greeting party he had sent out to meet the Southern Lord and Kato, who he did not expect to reach the mansion for another couple of days. Children did not attend these audiences, so Rin was absent.

The door leading to the private wing of the mansion opened and Aoi, sweating and furious, hurried through, closely followed by the cat. His eyes lit with approval; she finally looked like a proper female. Now if only she could keep her mouth shut…

Aoi had her sit off to the side and near the wall on several soft cushions, thrusting a painted fan into her hands. At her blank look, Aoi snatched up the fan, opened it, then gave it back to her, lifting the cat's hands and the fan to partially cover her face. Aoi said something Sesshomaru couldn't hear, but it earned her a scowl from the cat before she took her place among the servant women.

Several members of the household gave the cat curious looks, surreptitiously glancing to him and then back to her. With a start, he'd realized what he'd done: by assigning her to the women's quarters, he'd all but announced her as his concubine. It hadn't been his intention; it had been the quickest solution to the problem. He hadn't wanted to leave her behind with Kato; the scout had a brutal reputation for his treatment of women and the only reason Sesshomaru kept him around was because he was very good at his job. He also didn't want to leave her to hook up with that monk, not that she'd seemed interested in him. As much as he rationalized it, the truth was that he didn't want to leave her, period, which left him with the problem: what to do with her? At least the current arrangement would silence his generals who had been after him to take a concubine or mate and produce an heir. Stealing another glance at her, he wondered if the arrangement might have its merits after all.

He pushed her out of his mind and signaled to a footman to sound the gong, the signal that the audience had started.

Charlotte scooted backward until she felt the wall against her back. The meeting had drug by for the last half hour with no end in sight. She'd never liked meetings, even when they applied to her, and was ready to tune this one out. Now thankful for the fan, she leaned on the wall and brought the fan up to her eyes so that she could scan the room without drawing undue attention to herself. Well, no more than she already was. She'd intercepted many interested looks since Aoi sat her here by herself, which was another thing that bothered her: why was she sitting alone when everyone else, except for Sesshomaru himself, was sitting or standing in groups?

There were two other doors at the other end of the audience chamber: a large double-door at the back and a small door on the wall opposite her, close to the back. The smaller door looked like it might lead to the servants' area of the mansion. Charlotte doubted that she could get through the large door without alerting the guards and she didn't want to risk getting caught by the servants, if Aoi was indicative of the servants' attitudes. She would have to find another way out.

The meeting dragged on and Charlotte found herself nodding. The second time her head snapped up, jerking her out of a doze, she brought a knee up to her chest and propped her arm on it so that her face would be entirely hidden by the fan. Satisfied that she could nap with none the wiser, she leaned her head against the wall and let her eyes slip closed.

"Excuse us for boring you," Aoi snapped, sarcasm dripping from her tongue. Charlotte jolted awake and blinked up at the female demon who had her hands planted on her hips.

Rising to her feet slowly and with dignity, she glared haughtily down at the demon. "You're forgiven, I'm sure," she drawled, her tone icy and condescending. Aoi's eyes flashed but she held her tongue, spinning on her heel and stalking back to the door to the private wing of the mansion. Pausing on the threshold, she turned again, waiting for Charlotte to catch up with her.

Charlotte took her time sauntering up to the door, perversely enjoying the little cat-and-mouse game they were playing. The smaller demon muttered something rude under her breath as Charlotte passed through the door way and she stopped, fixing the crow youkai with a sharp stare, smiling without humor. "Back off, bitch."

Aoi dropped her eyes first and hustled forward, leading her back to her rooms. Wrenching the door open, she stomped over to the oil lamps and lit one as she waited for Charlotte to enter, refusing to make eye contact. As soon as she possibly could, she left, slamming the door behind her and locking it with a clunk of the mechanism.

'Shit,' Charlotte regarded the heavy wooden door and frowned. 'Maybe I should have tried to make friends instead of intentionally provoking her.' She dropped the fan on one of the low table and kicked off her shoes, followed by the socks. Flopping down on the cushions, she sighed loudly. As much as she liked her space and privacy, she missed Rin's enthusiastic chatter and questions. She missed Sesshomaru's calm presence, seeming to watch everything and nothing at the same time. Even a Jaken rant would be preferable to Aoi or this pervasive silence.

Holding a silk pillow to her chest, she wandered over to the tall door that led to the balcony, unlatching it and letting in the night air. The chill wind caught her hair and blew it around her face but she ignored it, staring into the deep darkness. Leaning against the balcony railing, she was struck by the silent sky, the thick blackness of the land, and the sheer number of stars overhead. 'LA is never truly quiet. The light never fades…' She closed her eyes, wishing for just one siren to blare by, but none were forthcoming.

A soft knock on the door was followed by a drab, brown head. "Lady?"

"Yeah?" Charlotte called from the balcony.

A timid female entered the room, eyes as non-descript brown as her hair and kimono. "Your dinner is ready?"

With a last glance over her shoulder at the empty night, she left the balcony. "Oh yeah?" She watched the slender creature lay out a meal on one of the low tables. She didn't recognize any of the dishes but the aroma was enough to make her mouth water. "What about Rin and…"

The mouse youkai twitched her nose, waiting for her to finish. When it was apparent that she wasn't going to, the little demon bowed quickly. "Lady Rin dines with the other children of the household. Normally, you would be with the other …" she repeated the word used by Aoi and Charlotte's eyes narrowed.

"But I'm the only one?" she asked, guessing that the empty rooms adjoining hers would house other women. 'Hadn't Sesshomaru called them the "women's quarters"? What kind of women, I wonder?' Charlotte bowed back, "Thank you…what was your name?"

"Shoko, lady."

"Thank you, Shoko." The mouse youkai bowed again and scurried out the door, closing it quietly behind her. Listening carefully, Charlotte did not hear the lock being set. Smiling in relief, Charlotte pulled a scroll from the shelf and carried it over to the table, seating herself cross-legged on the cushions and slipping on her glasses, her pulled-up hair holding the ear hooks in place. She ate and read, taking comfort from the familiar actions; when eating alone, she always read, watched television, or worked.

Lost in the fairytales written on the scroll, Charlotte hardly noticed Shoko's quiet knock sometime later. Giving her a nod of thanks as Shoko entered and cleaned up, she continued to read. A new light, shining brightly through the balcony door, finally drew her attention from the scroll. 'It must be close to midnight…I'll just finish this story and then I'll go exploring,' she promised herself, making herself more comfortable on the cushions.

XxxxxxxxxxX

Sesshomaru re-read the same paragraph for the forth time, then dropped the scroll on the desk in disgust. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't concentrate on the reports and financials that had collected during his absence. Pushing to his feet, he paced his rooms restlessly, trying to burn off the energy that prevented him from sitting still. He preferred patrolling his lands to doing paperwork, anyway. The only reason his tour had been cut short in the first place was the unexpected visit from Lord of the Southern Lands.

He grunted in irritation: the Southern Lord was not particularly welcome. Devious and greedy, he could not be trusted. Sesshomaru had no illusions that this was merely a social call. Lord Yukio always had a self-serving agenda and wouldn't let honor get in the way of completing it.

The scent of sagebrush wafted into the room through the open balcony door and he paused his pacing, flaring his nostrils and breathing in deeply. Following the scent to the balcony, he stepped outside and looked to the right. Several rooms down, her light shone through the open balcony doors, the only other bright light in the dark night. 'Fitting,' he thought, 'for such an unusual creature.'

Running a hand through his Mokomoko-sama, he noticed with a strange sense of regret that the scent of catnip had faded. She'd been so wild, passionate, nothing like a properly raised noblewoman. Would she be the same without the plant's influence? She'd been more than willing the other day….

Without thinking, he dissolved into his energy form and flew over to her balcony, reforming in the puddle of light cast by a single oil lamp. Peering into her rooms, he didn't see her at first. A corner of violet caught his eye and he approached the low dining table. Still fully dressed, she was curled up on the cushions, her glasses smashed against her face and a scroll held limply in one hand. The thought of waking her crossed his mind and he knelt down, brushing his knuckles lightly against her cheek. She stirred slightly, but didn't rouse, nestling deeper into the cushions, the corners of her lips turning up in a small smile. With a whisper of a sigh, he gently pulled the glasses from her face and set them on the table. She was in his house and under his power but something stayed his hand. Rising to his feet, he left the room as silently as he came.

XxxxxxxxxxX

Charlotte woke to a hard rapping on her door and the pale light of dawn illuminating the sitting room. Groaning, she sat up, rolling the scroll closed and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Aoi finally entered carrying a bowl and silky blue robe, smirking down at Charlotte with a smug air. "Sleep alone last night? Some … you are," she sneered as she tossed the robe over one of the clothes racks.

A knot clenched in her stomach: Charlotte thought that she could guess what that word was now. So he'd set her up as his concubine, had he? But hadn't taken what these servants obviously saw as his right. She gave the crow youkai an arch look as she set the bowl down on the table, hiding her trepidation. "I don't see how that is any of _your_ business," she said, infusing her voice with as much disdain as she could muster.

Aoi snorted, her eye twitching in annoyance. "I will be here in fifteen minutes to take you to the bathhouse. See that you're ready."

'I have to get out of here,' she thought as she picked at her breakfast without an appetite. 'I'm no one's property.'

'What bothers you more: that they think you're a concubine or that they think you're a _failed_ concubine?' her youkai spoke up.

'I'm not answering that,' she growled back. 'What kind of a question is that, anyway?'

She had changed into the robe by the time her door swung open again. Before the rude demoness could speak, Charlotte brushed by her. Aoi slammed the door and huffed down the hall, not bothering to make sure Charlotte was following. 'I could use this…' she thought, a plan forming in her mind. She might not have to sneak out, just use her attitude against her.

The bath was better than she imagined. In a smallish room paneled in fragrant wood, it was larger than a Jacuzzi and steamy hot. Within reach of the square tub were an empty bucket, a bucket of rinsing water and a small shelf with vials of oils and herbs.

Once again alone, Charlotte stripped and sank into the water, sighing in pleasure. Flattening her ears to her head and closing her eyes, she slid under the surface of the water, letting the warmth soothe her muscles and wash away her tension. She stayed under the water until she had to come up for air, wiping water from her face. 'This is heaven,' she smiled, finding a bench built into the tub and settling there, the water covering her breasts. Leaning her head against the wall of the bath, she drew her knees up to her chest and let her mind drift.

"Excuse me?" Shoko peeked into the bathhouse. "Are you ready to have your hair washed?"

"I'm sure I can manage…" Charlotte protested as the mouse youkai scampered around the bath and began fiddling with the herbs and oils.

Shoko tsked and gestured for her to come closer. "The Southern Lord is arriving today," she reminded her, as if that explained everything. Rolling her eyes but scooting down the bench, she leaned her head back over the edge of the bath, allowing the demon scrub the stuff into her hair. She hissed with shock as cooler water was poured over her hair, rinsing the herbs from her hair and into the bucket below.

"I'm sorry, lady!" Shoko almost dropped the bucket in fear.

Charlotte smiled at her reassuringly. "Don't worry! I just wasn't expecting it!" The demoness twitched her nose hesitantly, and then resumed rinsing until the clean water was finished. Pulling both buckets aside, she gathered the robe from the rack and opened it. Charlotte took that as her cue to leave the bath and did so, reluctantly. "Shoko, what's expected of me?" she asked suddenly as the servant demon slipped the robe over her shoulders.

Brow furrowing, Shoko looked at her askance. "You are here for the Lord's pleasure."

"Of course," Charlotte mumbled, apprehension twisting in her gut at the feeling of being at another's mercy.

XxxxxxxxxxxxX

If possible, the audience chamber was even more crowded than before: even the children were present. Charlotte had caught sight of Rin and had given her a little wave. Grinning and waving back, Rin had taken a seat with the other children, all youkai. Charlotte was seated in the same spot as before but she sat properly with her lower legs tucked under her and her back straight, her face partially covered by the fan.

Having nothing better to do, she'd spent hours on her appearance, primping, pin curling, powdering, and painting until she had accentuated her best features to their advantage. With combs and clips, she'd pulled her hair away from her face in waves to cascade down her back in soft, golden ringlets. Her kimonos were in blues and aqua, complemented with a pale green sash. Sesshomaru had noticed her efforts. She'd felt his gaze on her more than once but he had been looking away each time she'd glanced over at him.

At ringing of the gong, the talking ceased and a hush fell over the hall. The large double doors swung open and Yukio, Lord of the Southern lands, strode in followed by a small retinue of samurai and four servants, each carrying the corner of a large covered platform. The Lord was beautiful: hot where Sesshomaru was cold. His long red hair, gathered into a high ponytail, seemed to flicker with flames and his red eyes smoldered as he glanced around him, quickly taking in the chamber and it's occupants. Charlotte felt his eyes pass over her and met them, shivering in the intense heat.

The lord came to a halt several yards from the raised dais on which Sesshomaru sat, the servants lowering their burden to the floor and standing at attention. Long, formal introductions and pleasantries were exchanged, culminating in a presentation of gifts. With a flourish, the Southern lord gestured for his servants to remove the drape from the platform.

One after the other, the servants unpacked the platform, displayed the object to Sesshomaru with a low bow, and set the object to the side near the dais. Carved jade vases, a jeweled dagger and several bolts of fine silk were presented before Charlotte saw the painting.

She froze and smothered a gasp, eyes wide and nerves taught as wire. It was the right size, the right colors… she couldn't quite see the picture but she knew in her bones that it was identical to the painting on her living room floor. 'I have to find out where they keep this stuff…Shoko will know, I hope.'

The lord was trying to catch her eye again and she obliged him with a quick smile. He might be useful for getting close to the gift if Shoko couldn't come through for her. She completely missed Sesshomaru's eyes narrowing as he glanced at Lord Yukio.


	11. Farewell, My Concubine

A/N: I never could find where it says that ffnet doesn't allow authors to post comments to reviewers, so I'll start answering them again.

Thanks all, for reading. Your encouragement means a lot to me. I even got this one out quicker than I expected.

FFnet: Ki, Lucifer001 – beading is stringing and sewing beads onto something, gothic-ember, Shock119

Mmorg: Jovian Fleet Commander

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 11 – Farewell, My Concubine

The audience was over and youkai began to file out of the chamber. Sesshomaru was deep in conversation with Lord Yukio's generals. Charlotte hung back, wondering if she could get a better look at the Southern Lord's gifts now or if she would have to wait. Regardless, she probably shouldn't try to use the painting until she had some privacy.

"What have we here?" a silky voice spoke at her elbow and turned to face it, trying not to appear startled. Lord Yukio looked her up and down, leering slightly, "Sesshomaru is lucky to have such a beautiful flower gracing his garden."

Charlotte smiled and fluttered her fan, shyly lowering her eyes. 'Great, not another one.' But this man wasn't a silly monk or some loser at a nightclub. He was a demon lord and she would literally be playing with fire. "You flatter me," she giggled lightly.

"Not at all, lady." He hooked his thumbs in the black sash belted around his scaled armor and smiled, showing the tips of his fangs. "I noticed you admiring the gifts that I brought. Would you like a closer look?"

"I'd love one!" she beamed up at him, resting her hand on his proffered arm. Her heart started to pound as they approached the tidy display and she was having trouble maintaining the slow, graceful pace that the lord set. She 'oohed' and 'aahed' at each item, but didn't see any of them but the painting. Sure enough, it was _the_ painting: sakura tree in the foreground, a mansion perched on a crag in the mountain at sunset. However, something was missing. Charlotte eyed the picture, trying to figure out what was different.

The Southern Lord led her away from the painting to another item and she so was wrapped up in her thoughts that it took her a moment to realize what the object was. Surprised, she glanced up at him. "A French writing desk?"

"Ah, so you've seen this kind of thing before," he said, sounding slightly disappointed. "I acquired it from travelers from far distant lands. A rare item."

"My lord Sesshomaru is honored to have received such a valuable gift. You are very generous, my lord," she simpered at him, wishing that he'd go away so that she could study the painting.

"Quite so. Then your lord wouldn't mind if you accompany me to the feast?" he asked, glancing over at the lord in question. Still speaking with the generals, Sesshomaru was watching them closely, his eyes gleaming with an unnamed emotion. Yukio grinned inwardly; he enjoyed irritating his fellow lords, especially this one, and if it was with the company of a pretty woman, then so much the better. The possessiveness of dog demons was well known but he knew that Lord Sesshomaru wouldn't dare insult a guest with a public confrontation.

Charlotte, oblivious to Yukio's game and hiding her annoyance, inclined her head and let him lead her out of the audience chamber.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Creeping down the hall as quietly as she could, Charlotte glanced behind her; the hall was still empty. She'd excused herself from the feast as soon as politeness allowed, pleading an upset stomach. It had been a convincing deception; she was so wound up about the painting that she could only pick at her food. She'd overheard the order to move the gifts to an intermediary storage room adjacent to the audience chamber. She hoped against hope that the room was unguarded and empty of people.

She slipped out of her shoes and bundled the kimonos in her hands, freeing her feet to run back to the chamber. A shadowed figure slid after her, keeping close to the walls and out of sight.

She breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that the storage room was unguarded and unlocked. Palming the handle, she eased the door open and stole into the room, leaving the door ajar for the light. The painting was sitting on the floor, propped up against the legs of the desk. Bending down for a better look, she racked her brain for the missing element. Frowning in concentration, she scanned the painting, detail by detail. Everything was there, even the way the fog seemed to roil around the base of the mountain…

Charlotte strangled a shriek. "That's it! It was moving when I came through but it wasn't moving earlier. Now it is!" She giggled almost hysterically and wrung her hands.

A hand on her shoulder jerked her roughly around and she blinked up into angry golden eyes. "Woman, what was that back there?" he snarled in her face.

"What was what?" she asked, momentarily baffled.

He released her shoulder, almost shoving her backwards. "You disgust me."

Her eyes widened incredulously, "You set me up as your whore and you accuse _me_ of inappropriate behavior?"

"Are you meeting Yukio here?"

"Huh?" she asked stupidly, completely caught off guard.

He pushed her against the wall and pinned her there with a firm grip on her shoulder. "I asked you if you are meeting Yukio here," he growled, his voice dangerously quiet.

"No!" she gasped, the breath knocked out of her by the force of the impact and his overwhelming presence.

"Don't lie to this Sesshomaru, woman," he increased the pressure on her shoulder, nails biting into her skin.

'He's beyond reason. I have to reach that painting,' she thought, fear pricking at her spine. Using one of the moves her brother had taught her long ago, she knocked his hand lose with a blow of her forearm. Dropping into a low crouch, she shot between his legs with her hands stretched out in front of her and her head ducked, landing in a neat roll.

She leapt forward again, ignoring his roar of fury. A weight hit her back and slammed her to the floor, flat on her stomach. Crying out as her chin hit hard stone, sending shooting pain through her jaw and bringing tears to her eyes, she felt a knee grind into her back and a clawed hand grab a hank of hair. Blinking away the moisture, she realized that she was only a couple of feet away from the painting and home. She stretched her arm forward and touched the painting with her fingertips, thanking her lucky stars when the floor tilted beneath her.

Sesshomaru stared down at the floor between his knees where there had once been a cat youkai, the anger draining out of him. When she'd touched the painting, blue light had engulfed her, then her body had simply…dissolved. The only things left of her were the golden strands of her hair tangled in his claws. He closed his fingers over them, distantly ashamed of his behavior. He'd assumed the worst and had let his anger get the better of him. He had been doing that a lot lately and it disturbed him a little, but not as much as the vague sense of emptiness that seeped through his body.

She'd come for the painting, he now knew. It looked like an ordinary painting; beautiful, well painted and a fitting gift between lords, but ordinary. Hadn't she said something about it moving? He scrutinized the picture, brushing his claws over the paint. Just a regular painting: no movement.

"My Lord? I heard a commotion," a guard spoke from the doorway, his sword drawn and ready.

Sesshomaru got to his feet and pointed at the painting. "Have this painting hung in my private chambers."

"Yes, my lord." The guard left the storage room, sheathing his sword and calling for a servant.

XxxxxxxxxxX

She woke lying on her stomach, hardwood flooring cool and hard under cheek. Groaning, she opened her eyes and propped herself up on her elbows. Her burgundy couch filled her field of view; she grinned widely and ran a hand over the microfiber fabric. "I'm home…"

Springing to her feet, she turned in a slow circle, staring around her in disbelief. "I can't believe I'm really home!" Laughing giddily, she ran to the stereo and turned it on and cranked the volume, playing the first CD that loaded. The electronic melodies of Depeche Mode blared from the speakers and thumped in her chest.

Smiling in ecstasy, she crossed the living room to the balcony door and wrenched it open, letting the warm, polluted desert air wash over her, the roar of engines floating up from below. Leaning over her balcony, she flung her arms over her head and shouted to the hazy evening sky, "I'm back!"

"Shut up, bitch!" a neighbor shouted from several floors below.

"Fuck you," she shouted back pleasantly, grinning and giving him the bird. He returned the gesture and stomped back into his apartment.

A sudden thought struck her and she sprinted into the kitchen, flinging open the freezer. "Oh, ice cream," she chuckled as she pulled the unopened cartoon out of freezer and tore off the top, grabbing a spoon out of a drawer. Scooping out a large chunk, she popped into her mouth, savoring the cold mint flavor and crunchy chocolate candies.

Wandering back over to the couch, she set the carton on the coffee table. 'Damn, Sesshomaru is fast,' she rubbed her sore chin. The skin had broken and it was definitely bruised, but nothing that wouldn't heal within a few hours. She'd received worse during her wrestling matches with her brother, who'd pinned her to the floor on countless occasions.

'He was really mad at me…maybe I should go back and explain. I didn't really mean to flirt with that Yukio guy. It was just habit.' She glanced around the couch. She'd left the painting propped up against it but it was nowhere in sight. Her heart skipped a beat and she leapt off the couch, glancing wildly around the living room. Even the box was gone.

"The cleaning lady must have moved it," she mumbled, trying to reassure herself. It was not a large apartment: a one-bedroom/one-bathroom with a loft, the living room separated from the kitchen by a counter bar. Giving in to a romantic whim, she'd converted the loft to her bedroom and the bedroom to an office. All in all, the place did not take long to search, and none of the rooms contained the painting.

Panting, she leaned against the wall, chewing on her lip and trying to collect her thoughts. Her eyes fell on the junk closet near the front door and she pushed off the wall, yanking open the door. The painting was on its side, propped against a box that she'd moved from her previous apartment but never unpacked. Going limp with relief, she picked it up carefully and brought it back to the living room, setting it on the coffee table next to the ice cream.

Staring at it in dismay, she realized that it wasn't moving. She ran her claws over the paint, careful to not damage it. 'So is this it? I only get one round trip?' Tears pricked the backs of her eyes as strange emptiness seemed to fill her and she blinked quickly, refusing to give in to them.

'What's wrong with you? You search for a week for a way home and now that you're here, you want to go back right away?' her conscience pricked at her, irritably.

"Yeah, but I wanted…" she spoke aloud. 'What did you want?' it asked quietly.

"I don't know," she sighed. "Maybe it's for the best."

XxxxxxxxxxxxX

Lord Yukio's visit had been mercifully short, only three days, and Sesshomaru had not been sad to see him go, sending him off with a parting gift of matched ornamental swords: beautiful but useless. Yukio had had the temerity to hint that another gift would have been much more welcome, especially since Sesshomaru himself didn't use her. He'd ignored the comment, as he'd ignored all comments or questions from his household about the cat's whereabouts, excluding Rin.

The child had sought him out the day after Yukio had arrived, wondering if she could play with her. He'd simply told her that she'd gone home. Rin had teared up and sniffled, but had nodded bravely and returned to her rooms.

He hadn't mentioned the painting to Yukio. Sesshomaru doubted that Yukio knew that the painting was enchanted; if he had, he probably wouldn't have given it away. If Yukio did know, Sesshomaru didn't want the Southern lord to know that he was on to him.

As per his orders, the painting hung in the front room of his private chambers. He studied it often, but so far, it had failed to reveal its secrets. With more than a little annoyance, he realized that he missed having her around: her teasing, laughter, and bright smile. She was the only person who'd treated him as an equal but didn't want anything from him.

The last rays of the dying sun bathed the room in muted orange light as he stood in front of the painting yet again, his eyes narrowed in thought. He had to admit that the artist had talent. He had captured perfectly the graceful curve of the sakura tree and each petal shone with moisture clinging to its surface. The gathering fog at the base of the mountain seemed almost tangible, as if it could chill the viewer with its cold dampness. The mansion, _his_ mansion, was almost hidden by the roiling fog and he had to squint to make it out. Absently, he lit an oil lamp and brought it closer to the painting to get a better look.

He gasped, rearing back. Had that speck of yellow on the mansion been there a moment before? Without taking his eyes from the spot, he blew out the lamp. The point of yellow disappeared. Without thinking, he set down the lamp and reached for the painting, the image of a golden-haired woman fixed in his mind.


	12. Unexpected Visit

A/N:

FFnet: gothic-ember, forgotten angel, Lucifer001

Mmorg: Jovian Fleet Commander, Kanesami

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 11 – Unexpected Visit

Countless sounds and smells assaulted him, and Sesshomaru clutched at his head with his hand, almost moaning in pain. Stumbling backwards, he was vaguely aware that he'd passed though a doorway into a smaller room, but kept his eyes screwed shut. Several minutes passed before he was able to take a steady breath and assess his surroundings.

The room was dark and crowded with strange gray boxes with thin snakes running from them. Lights winked at him, and some of the boxes whirred and hummed as if alive. Sniffing at them, he knew that they weren't living, but couldn't identify what kind of magic drove them. Against one wall there stood what he could only assume was a bed, but he had never seen one raised so far off the ground. A blanket made of many different squares of fabric lay over it, and several cushions were scattered across the top.

A shrill ringing filled the house, piercing his ears, and the sound of rushing water was abruptly cut off, followed by wet, slapping footsteps. A door swung open and Charlotte came bursting through, passing him by without a glance as he hid into the shadows of the little room. Wet and naked, apart from a thick sheet she was holding to her breasts, she tore across the room and snatched up a small, rectangular device. A cloud of sweet smelling steam followed her, but underneath it was _her_ scent. He breathed it in, almost tasting it.

"Hello?" she said breathlessly into the mouthpiece, propping the cordless phone between her cheek and chin and turning down the stereo. The skin between her shoulder blades itched, as if she were being watched. Wrapping the towel around her body, she shrugged it off; she knew she was alone in her apartment.

"Charlotte? Are you okay?" an accented voice asked hesitantly.

"Keiko!" she cried in delight, switching to Japanese. "I'm fine, just got out of the shower! How are you?"

"I'd heard from your brother that you were missing," she replied in Japanese, relief and mild outrage coloring her voice.

Charlotte laughed, "Charlie? I didn't know he had your number."

"He doesn't. He picked up the phone when I called."

"Oh. Well, you only have yourself to blame! You know that painting you sent me?"

"The landscape?"

"Yep! Well…" she gave her a briefing of her adventures of the past week, glossing over the more uncomfortable, embarrassing point as she wandered into the kitchen and opened the fridge, pulling out the open bottle of Chardonnay. Reaching into her cupboard, she found a clean wine glass and poured a generous measure. "…Fortunately, Charlie didn't call the police. He did come down here to check on me but he's out right now…"

"I can't believe it! The shopkeeper said that it had something to do with youkai but I didn't really believe him."

Chuckling, she took a long sip. She still felt like she was being watched. Chalking it up city paranoia, she sat on the kitchen floor, the cool terracotta tile somehow both uncomfortable and comforting against her bare bottom.

"So…this inuyoukai you met…" Keiko trailed off leadingly.

"Sesshomaru?"

"Yeah, so was he cute?"

In the middle of another sip, Charlotte choked and set the glass down. "Are you fucking kidding me? He was gorgeous!" Keiko laughed five thousand miles away. "You remember that song by the Divinyls?"

Keiko sang off-key in English, "_When I think about you, I touch myself_. That one?"

"That's the one."

"Was he a good lay?"

"Oh. I didn't sleep with him."

"What? You spent a week with a beef-cake and didn't ball him?" Keiko's incredulous voice raised an octave.

Sighing, she finished the wine in her glass and emptied the bottle into it. "Well… we pissed each other off a lot…" she thought back to their violent parting and cringed. Belatedly, she had realized that he'd been "scruffing" her, her mother's term for werelion, or youkai, punishment. Giving her a little shakedown for what he considered bad behavior. Instinctively, she knew that she had to make amends, which she resented, and had almost been relieved when the painting remained motionless, cutting off her doorway to feudal Japan. If it weren't for the nagging feeling of loneliness, she'd have locked the thing in the closet. Instead, she'd hung it in the living room and stared at it, worrying her lip and wondering how she would apologize. He had been rather rough, after all. And she wasn't a cub anymore – simple words would have been good enough. Charlotte huffed into the mouthpiece. "And it's not like I _ball_ every cute guy I see."

"Whatever. And you aren't going back because…?"

"The painting stopped moving. Can't get back."

"Are you sure you're not just afraid to get involved with a guy who can get under your skin?'

"He lives 500 years in the past in _Japan._ That is one fucking _long_ distance relationship."

Keiko sighed, "Charlotte, you avoid commitment like the plague. Maybe you should give it a chance."

"I told you, I can't get back."

"Uh huh. One of these days, you'll meet someone who challenges you, who doesn't let you walk all over him. Then, commitment won't seem like such a bad thing."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Well, I'm glad you're okay. I have to go; my boyfriend will be here soon. Come visit me sometime!"

Charlotte signed off and stared at the receiver in her hand. 'I miss him. I wonder if he misses me? Stupid, he's probably glad to be rid of me, especially after that scene in the store room.' She drained the glass and tossed the phone carelessly onto the counter. A professor had once said, "When you're sober, you're not quite sane." She eyed her wine rack for another dose of sanity, adjusting the towel loosely and crawling toward it.

Movement in the corner of the room caught her eye and she turned toward it. Sesshomaru stepped into the light, staring down at her with an inscrutable expression. For a moment she could only stare, not believing her eyes. He took another step toward her and she shrieked, scrambling backwards on the kitchen floor until her back hit the fridge.

Pressing her back into the fridge, she stammered, "What… how did you…" her eyes widened. "How long have you been here?" His silence answered her question. He had heard the entire conversation. She groaned and slid up the fridge, using the handle to help herself up, "Oh my god…" With dismay, she realized that she'd left the towel by the wine rack.

"Hand me my towel," she pointed to the green towel lying on the floor, faced flushed with embarrassment. His eyes narrowed as he glanced from her, to the towel, and back. "You're in my fucking apartment, so hand me the fucking towel!" she snapped at him, slightly hysterically. He bent just enough to lift the towel and toss it to her. She caught it in mid-air, and wrapped it around her, tucking the end between her breasts to secure it. Inching around the island counter, keeping it between her and him for as long as possible, she eyed him warily. His expression gave no indication as to what he was thinking. He simply watched her in silence.

Bracing herself, she made a mad dash toward the stairs to her lofted bedroom, vaulting the couch in order to stay as far away from him as possible. Once in her bedroom, she wedged her self between the wall and the bed, breathing hard and wishing for a bedroom door to slam. 'Now what, genius? Have any more juicy confessions to make before the end of the evening?' She groaned and dropped her face in her hands.

Discarding the towel, she slipped on an old pair of sleeping shorts and a tank top. He would probably consider them indecent, but they were better than the towel. Besides, the cleaning lady Did Not Do Laundry, and Charlotte hadn't gotten around to it yet, so it was one of the few clean articles of clothing that she had in which to lounge around the house.

She glanced over the railing of her bedroom to the main room below. He was standing by one of the tall, arched windows, staring out at the city lights. Taking a deep breath, she descended the stairs and stood at the foot, watching him.

He glanced at her, the lights from the city reflecting in his eyes like sparks in molten metal. She caught her breath; he was so beautiful. "That was not the greeting that this Sesshomaru expected."

"You took me by surprise," she mumbled, fiddling with the edge of her shorts as she crossed the room to the painting and flicked on the overhead lights. She almost missed his sharp intake of breath. If it weren't for the widening of his eyes and tense stance, she would have thought she had imagined it. "Electricity," she explained, pointing at the light coming from the ceiling.

Motionless as ever, the painting hung where she had put it. 'He may be here for a while. As much as I hate it, I'd better clear the air.' She still didn't think her flirting had warranted punishment, but it had been his house where he was alpha. She cleared her throat and turned around, flattening her ears and padding over to where he stood by the window, watching the street.

"Uh, Sesshomaru…" Only his eyes moved, sliding over to stare at her. She lowered her head, baring the side and back of her neck in proper contriteness. It galled her to do it, this show of submission, but it couldn't be helped. She only hope that he didn't choose to nip her like her mother sometimes had when she had been especially bad. It hadn't hurt but had been humiliating as hell. "I'm sorry about the thing with Yukio…I didn't think about what I was doing. It was habit, you know?"

Sesshomaru stared at the soft patch of skin over her pulse point, slightly amazed at how calm she seemed. Many demons had cowered before him, trembling and begging for their lives. She was nervous but not afraid. He was also curious if what she had been telling the other woman was true. He hadn't understood the bit of song, as it had been sung in a different language, nor the vulgar slang, but he got the gist of it. Deciding to try a little experiment, he bent down and whuffed hot breath over her neck, just enough to stir the fine, short hairs. She shivered but didn't move, her heart rate increasing. A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips and he bent lower, barely scraping his fangs over skin.

She gasped and backed away, raising her head and eyeing him cautiously. "We cool?" Inclining his head, he blanked his expression, enjoying her uneasiness. She rubbed her neck absently, wandering back into the kitchen area.

"It wasn't just the catnip," he spoke to her turned back.

She looked at him sharply over her shoulder, her mouth dropping open. She closed her mouth with a snap and scowled at him. "I never said it was. And you weren't supposed to hear that – you have violated the sanctity of girl talk."

This time, he smirked at her, knowing that he had gained the upper hand. His satisfaction was short-lived, shattered by a timid knocking and a male voice. "Charlotte? Are you okay?"

Groaning, Charlotte changed to her human shape and walked to the door, throwing the bolt and opening the door as far as a short chain would allow. "Hi Nestor."

"I thought I heard you scream, but then I thought it was the television. Then I thought I better check anyway…"

"I'm fine, Nestor. I…I thought I saw a cockroach." 'Good thing I wasn't in danger,' Charlotte thought. 'With his response time, I would have been dead or kidnapped by the time he got here.'

He peered around her, scanning her apartment for some perceived threat. "Who's he? Did he hurt you? Is he _growling_?"

Charlotte moved to block his view. "No, he isn't growling," she insisted, denying the obvious and gesturing behind her back for him to stop.

Instead of stopping, Sesshomaru approached the door and glared down at the weak human male in the hall. He didn't understand what they had been saying, but he knew a competitor when he saw one.

Nestor swallowed noisily and backed up a step. "Are you sure? He looks dangerous with all those tattoos."

She shot Sesshomaru a speaking glare, "I'm sure, Nestor. Thanks for stopping by…" she started to close the door when Nestor put his hand on the doorjamb.

"Uh, Charlotte? Could I ask you something? In private?"

Sesshomaru's growl had increased when Nestor had stopped her from closing the door, and Charlotte wasn't sure how long he would wait to attack the human. "Now isn't really a good time... how about tomorrow?" Nestor's face fell, but he retreated from the doorway so that she could close the door, sighing in relief as she turned the lock.

"He called you by name," Sesshomaru's cold statement grated on her already frayed nerves.

"The only person who _doesn't_ use my name is you," she tapped his chest with her finger and sidestepped him, making her way back into the kitchen. He followed close on her heels.

"What did he want?"

"Why do you care?"

"I don't. I am merely curious."

"Oh yeah? And you were growling because…?" she leaned against the counter bar, hunching her shoulders and looking up at him through the thick fringe of her lashes.

"This Sesshomaru does not owe answers to a mix-breed," he said disdainfully, gesturing at her human ears and eyes.

Rolling her eyes, she sighed in exasperation. "Well, this is my house, _dog_, so don't growl at my neighbors. Even weasels like Nestor."

XxxxxxxxxxxX

"You sure you'll be comfortable up here?" Charlotte asked, trying not to giggle at the proud dog demon wearing an oversized tee shirt and boxers of her brother's. Without the long, voluminous sleeves of his haori, his missing arm was painfully obvious but somehow didn't detract from his overall beauty. She'd decided to put him in her room since her brother was staying in her office. She didn't expect him back until sometime tomorrow, but she didn't want to change the sheets.

Sesshomaru nodded, doubting he'd be able to sleep with all the ambient noise coming from outside the apartment. Periodically, a rumbling, stuttered sound would descend from above, what she called "helicopters" or a strident bell would blare by below: "sirens". Countless smaller noises from surrounding rooms seeped through the walls.

She'd explained that many people lived in this building, but unlike his mansion, they were not part of a collective household and there was no master. Each set of rooms served as separate houses she didn't even know all of her neighbors! Thankfully, his nose had almost shut down soon after he had arrived; otherwise he was sure that the sheer volume of sensory input would have overwhelmed him.

She smiled at him and flicked off the lights. He watched her lithe form descend the stairs, admiring her shape silhouetted by the light from below. Mix-breed or not, she was tolerable company and nice to look at.

Once she'd gotten over her surprise at seeing him here, she'd relaxed and they had spent a pleasant evening discussing her world. She had done most of the talking, patiently answering his questions and demonstrating when necessary. "Television" and the "Internet" were still mind-boggling, but he was sure that he would understand eventually. The most disturbing thing about this place was the sheer number of humans to youkai. He didn't believe that Charlotte was the only youkai who lived in the city, but he had to admit that he sensed no other in the near vicinity.

He sank into the mattress, savoring her scent on the bedclothes. She'd changed them, but the pillows and mattress had absorbed it. With a twinge of guilt, he realized that by "her bed", she actually meant the bed that she slept in, not just another bed in her apartment. She had given up her private chamber for him, a great honor for a guest. Maybe he should have invited her to stay…

His eyes snapped open in the darkness; he must have dozed off but a small noise had woken him. A soft snick, followed by almost silent footsteps, put his entire body on alert. He tracked the sounds with his sharp hearing, trying to determine whether or not it was the cat walking around. His nose was not much help: he was still having a difficult time processing all of the foreign scents.

A shadow passed over the high windows seconds before it landed on the edge of the mattress. With a fierce growl, he tackled it, tumbling them both off the bed and onto the floor, rolling until they hit the railing at the edge of the room. The figure cursed and hissed as it fought back with sharp claws, tearing at his unprotected skin. The sense of another youkai hit him; he brought poison to the tips of his claws and was about to deal a killing blow when the lights blinked on.

"Charlie!" Charlotte ran forward, desperate to separate the brawling males. "Sesshomaru, stop!" Snatching up a throw pillow from the pile on the floor, she pummeled them until Sesshomaru leapt off of his opponent. Keeping his claws ready, he eyed the blond male crouched on the floor. Light green eyes glared back at him, golden ears pinned against shoulder-length hair drawn into a messy ponytail.

"Charlie!" she shouted, continuing to whack him with the pillow. He cringed away, momentarily distracted from the dog demon glowering at him from the other side of the room. "That. Was. Not. Funny!" the volume of her voice rose to a roar and she punctuated each word with a swipe of the pillow.

"But!"

"We're not fucking cubs anymore!"

She'd stopped hitting him so he tried to mollify her with a little teasing, "You were a kitten, not a cub."

"Damn it," she threw the pillow at him and planted her hands on her hips. "Aren't you supposed to be out 'hoing' or something?"

He tossed the pillow aside and got up, dusting off his slacks and shaking his head. "You're right, this city has dried up." Glancing between Sesshomaru and his sister, he raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you start bringing your men home?"

"_Charlie_," she protested.

He grinned and shrugged, turning to the man with whom he had just been fighting. "Sorry 'bout that. Um, so what are you, anyway?" he asked, eyes roving over the silver hair, long pointed ears, and crests.

"_Lord_ Sesshomaru, the dog demon I told you about, and he doesn't speak English. Go to bed."

"What's with the arm?"

"GO TO BED!" she hollered, pointing down the stairwell. Snickering, Charlie slunk down the stairs as quietly as he'd entered the apartment. Charlotte turned to Sesshomaru, who hadn't moved from his defensive position by the wall. "I'm so sorry, he wasn't supposed to be back until tomorrow," she raised her hands in an apologetic gesture. "And you thought _your_ brother was ignorant."

When he didn't reply, she sighed and picked up the pillow, tossing it onto the pile with the rest of the throw cushions. "Goodnight, again."


	13. Houseguest

A/N: Thank you to all of my reviewers for the feedback. You don't know how much it means to me!

FFnet: Shock1119, Tinnueth, forgotten angel, Lucifer001, gothic-ember, agent-doo

Mmorg: Jovian Fleet Commander, moonwave, Kaneasami

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 13 – Houseguest

Charlotte sat at the kitchen table sipping strong black coffee and working the daily crossword. She had friends that would drink nothing but Starbucks, but she preferred the cans of beans at Trader Joe's and really didn't see what the fuss was about. No one else was up yet, and she was enjoying the relative quiet of the early morning after the ruckus of last night.

She could hardly believe that Charlie had pulled that stunt. Though a favorite game of theirs as children, he hadn't done it in years. The object of the game was to startle the other out of sleep and see how high you could get him to jump. Extra points if he buried his claws in the ceiling and clung there. Their mother had hated the game and had doled out wicked bites for both of them on many occasions. She had blamed their mischievousness on their father's human blood, saying: "Proper werelions do not play practical jokes! You should remain calm, proud and aloof. This is all your father's fault."

Most of what Charlotte knew about werelions and youkai in general was from speeches like this. After her father had died, her mother had started to fade, still providing for her children but distancing herself from them and the rest of the world. Apart from the werelion language, which her mother had said would be understood by all weres, she really didn't know much about her people. She doubted that her mother had to turn every full moon like her brother, father and she did. Now that she had met Sesshomaru, a full demon, she had a strong suspicion that she'd done it just to keep an eye on them.

The only thing her mother had been very clear about was mating. "Weres don't marry, they mate, and once it's done, there is no divorcing. Try to find a were to mate. Too much human blood would create problems for the cubs. They wouldn't be able to take their beast forms and would be forced to take a pure human form periodically." Charlotte had shivered in horror, exchanging glances with her twin. Even in their most human form, they still retained their keen senses and reflexes. Charlotte put down the crossword, a thought occurring to her. Inuyasha, Sesshomaru's half-brother, was half demon. Did that mean he became human?

With a rustle of fabric, Sesshomaru descended the stairs and approached the table. Back in his white haori and hakama, he was his usual unruffled self.

"Sesshomaru, can I ask you something?" He cocked his head but didn't answer.

"Does your brother ever become human?"

He gazed at her, wondering from where the question came. "Yes, he becomes human as you take your youkai form. Do you become human?"

"Full human? No, that would suck."

"Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I was just remembering something my mother told me. Not a big deal. Want some coffee?"

"This Sesshomaru does not eat human food, as you should not."

Shrugging, she sipped her coffee. "Suit yourself." The door to the office opened and Charlie shuffled into the bathroom, grunting a good morning in their direction. Moments later, the sound of running water filtered through the door. Her ears flattened, "I'm sorry about last night."

Sesshomaru nodded and took a seat at the table, lifting a corner of the newspaper and peering at it curiously. The paper was very thin and fragile and was covered in smudging ink that smelled bad. In response to his unasked question, she explained, "Newspaper. It describes current events all over the world, has advertisements, entertainment, and such."

"How current is this 'news'?" he asked, studying a picture of a human sobbing into the arms of another human. Rubble surrounded them, as if they were in the middle of a battlefield.

"Depends; some of it happened yesterday. The concerts and stuff will happen on the date posted," she glanced at the photo and grimaced.

"Human news."

"Yeah, as far as I know."

A wicked grin lit her face and she walked to the sink, pulling a plastic pitcher out of the cupboard and filling it with cold water. Tiptoeing to the bathroom door, she put a finger to her lips in the universal sign to keep quiet. She palmed the doorknob and eased the door open, slipping through the smallest opening she could. A hoarse shout of outrage and a heavy thud accompanied Charlotte barreling back out of the bathroom. Charlie burst out a moment later, soapy and furious.

"Bitch!" he made a grab for her but missed by a handbreadth.

"You're dripping on the floor!" she shrieked, skidding through the kitchen and around the counter bar. Snatching up a kitchen towel, she twirled it and snapped it at him all in one fluid movement. The end cracked against his skin, leaving an angry welt. He yelped and danced backward. Snapping the towel at him and laughing wildly, she herded him back into the bathroom. Almost slipping in the puddle on the floor, Charlie backpedaled into the bathroom, slamming the door.

Charlotte smirked smugly at the door, and then used the towel to mop up the soapy water. Tossing the wet towel into the sink, she took her seat at the table and picked up the crossword, meeting Sesshomaru's bored stare with a quick shrug. They spent the next fifteen minutes in companionably silence, Charlotte working the puzzle and Sesshomaru flipping through the paper and looking at the pictures.

Charlie stomped out of the bathroom, poured himself a cup of coffee, and joined them at the table, flopping down in the chair between them. "Truce?" he asked his sister.

"Hmm," she continued to concentrate on her puzzle.

"What are we doing today?"

"We?"

"Let's go to the beach."

Charlotte looked up from her puzzle. "Oh, I wouldn't mind. Which one?" At her brother's shrug, she switched to Japanese. "Do you like the beach, Sesshomaru?" He gazed at her emotionlessly, not understanding the point of her question.

"Quite the chatterbox, isn't he," Charlie remarked, slurping down the last of his coffee.

XxxxxxxxxX

Sesshomaru stared at the strange yellow contraption with unease, not sure of what to make of it. It looked like a small, horseless cart but had a piece of glass sticking up on one side and smelled of pungent tar. Other carts were in this cave they called a 'garage', of all different shapes and sizes. He jumped when the thing honked, lights in the front and back flashing on and off. He had a feeling that he would like this thing even less than the 'elevator', which had given him the 'creeps', as the cat put it. The parking garage was also unsettling, being underground and surrounded by formed rock and metal.

Charlie dropped a blue box onto the backseat and vaulted over the edge, taking a seat next to the box. "I can't believe you bought a Mini. Didn't you say that size is important?" He grinned and twitched his eyebrows suggestively, speaking their werelion language so that Sesshomaru could join their conversations if he so chose

"Size _is_ important, but so is the handling," she quipped.

"So is my theory correct?" he asked with a conspiratorial wink and a jerk of his head toward the dog demon.

"I wouldn't know."

"You'll tell me when you do?" He laughed when she rolled her eyes. "You're pretty brave to leave it in the garage with the top down."

Shrugging, Charlotte opened the passenger side door, gesturing for Sesshomaru to get in. "Security is pretty tight here." She closed the door after the tall demon had settled into the bucket seat in front.

She took her own seat behind the wheel and started the ignition. A tense hand on her thigh made her glance up, meeting frantic golden eyes. She smiled back reassuringly and patted the hand. On impulse, she leaned toward him and rubbed his cheek with hers. "It's just a car. Don't worry."

"Awwww," Charlie groaned from the back.

"Shut your pie-hole, Charlie." Charlotte pulled away and shifted into reverse, backing the car out of her spot, noting with concern that the hand on her thigh was tightening. 'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.' She started to feel nails when she pushed the button to open the garage door, the wrought iron rumbling and screeching open.

Once they were out of the underground parking structure and moving through the street, Sesshomaru began to relax his grip. Staring around in fascination, he watched a multitude of vehicles and pedestrians move through the congested streets. Buildings soared above them, taller than anything he had seen and seemed to press down with a claustrophobic weight. Winking in the harsh sunlight like a faceted gem, a giant silver bird roared overhead. Shop windows displayed a multitude of products and signs in brightly painted foreign letters. Though deafeningly chaotic, he was now able to associate the sounds of city with what actually made them. If this is what she was used to, then he knew what the cat meant when she had said that the forest was "too quiet".

They stopped moving and he glanced around for the reason. Following the cat's line of sight, he saw hanging lanterns with colored lights and glass. The red light was brightest and she was watching it intently, drumming her blunt human fingers on the wheel.

"Aren't you a pretty one," a weather-beaten old man with grizzled hair and missing teeth grinned at him from curb, shuffling forward and emitting an odor pungent enough to rival a garbage heap. The man was rotting from the inside, dying from a poison he could not identify. Though he didn't understand the words, Sesshomaru recognized the gleam in his eye and snarled, showing fang. The man shrieked and backed away holding his hands in front of his face.

Charlotte glanced over at the man, then at Sesshomaru, raising a questioning eyebrow but not seeming surprised or concerned.

"Light's changed," Charlie spoke up from the back, and Charlotte let the matter drop, the car lurching forward with the rest of the vehicles around them. She missed his hand when he finally withdrew it but was glad that he was comfortable enough to do so. 'We'll see when we get to the freeway,' she thought, taking the onramp and gaining speed.

She pulled into the beach parking lot, automatically taking note of the slot number. From the corner of her eye, she watched the inuyoukai release his hair, which he'd twisted into a rope and held down against the wind. Her heart constricted for a moment; he was simply the most beautiful man she had met. Impressed that the dog demon had remained calm throughout the entire road trip, she nodded solemnly, showing respect. He accepted it with a nod of his own, silently recognizing her gesture for what it was.

Charlie hopped out of the car, cooler in hand, and took a deep breath of salty marine air. "So, why Venice?"

Charlotte shrugged, "I thought that Sesshomaru wouldn't stand out as much." The stubborn tai-youkai had refused to wear jeans out of the house, let alone swim trunks, so was still dressed in his flowing haori and hakama. He wasn't able to hide his crests, either, so she hoped that people would assume they were tattoos, as Nestor had. He would stand out, but since Venice Beach was a haven for the bizarre, his outlandish appearance wouldn't attract that much attention. A bronze-skinned woman with violently blue hair and an enormous dragon tattoo that covered most of her back skated by the parking lot in a thong bikini and mirrored wrap-around sunglasses. Yep, he'd be fine here.

Sesshomaru sat on the towel in the sand, one leg curled under him, the other propped up, with his arm resting gently on his knee. Staring out at the waves crashing against the surf, he tried to ignore the state of undress of the cat, lying stretched out beside him. She was 'sunbathing', she had told him curtly when he'd growled at her for undressing. She'd pulled off her sleeveless top and untied her skirt, leaving in place only enough material, tied on with string, to cover her most private areas. More than indecent, it was disgraceful and… tantalizing. Somehow, the scandalous material managed to cover her crests, but the unbidden mental image of the graceful whorls on her hips did nothing to help his state of mind. Another growl slipped out as he caught sight of a human male walking by, eyeing the cat's almost bare bottom. He ignored the curious looks that people gave him.

"I told you to put on those swimming trunks," she murmured sleepily.

"How can your brother allow you to dress so in public?" he grouched back.

"Take a look around. Everyone dresses like this at the beach. And my brother has no say over what I do," she replied, turning over so that she could get a little sun on her front. She didn't tan easily and almost never burned, but she still loved the ritual of sunbathing.

He glanced around: it was true, there was more flesh exposed on this beach than he had seen in the last century. At least the air was cleaner here - the stench of the city was washed out to sea in tendrils of brown cloud. Why had she wanted to get back here so badly? Dirty, smelly, crowded, overrun with filthy, unclad humans, it seemed more a like place to avoid.

"What is it that that attracts you to this place?" he asked, watching a large bird hover above the water as if held by a thread.

Her eyes cracked open, "Venice Beach or LA in general?"

"In general."

She shrugged, shading her eyes regardless of the sunglasses she wore. "I like the activity and diversity… the weather can't be beat. I also have a good job, and that's more than a lot of people can say."

"It's not fitting that you work."

"Have to work to pay bills. I live alone and support myself." She smirked at his raised eyebrow, "Charlie is just visiting; he lives several hundred miles north."

"Do you enjoy working?"

"I used to. Now, it… passes the time, makes me feel useful. I guess I'd get bored if I weren't working."

"Your brother should be providing for you,"

She barked out a laugh and he tried not to notice how it made her breasts jiggle. "Wrong century, hon."

He supposed it could be true, that women no longer relied on their male relatives. The cat seemed to consider herself an equal to her brother and himself, one of her more infuriating and stimulating attributes.

"What is your brother's theory?" he asked idly, remembering the conversation in the garage.

Color suffused her face, "Uhhh… it really isn't that important."

An enormous man, skin the color of polished ebony with bulging muscles and veins, sauntered by. Hanging on his arm was a woman, equally dark and muscled, her straw-colored hair plaited into long, thin ropes. He cocked his head, intrigued. Charlotte propped herself up on her elbows to see what had interested him, glad of a chance to change the subject.

"Body builders." He looked at her askance. "Seriously, they train hard to look that way and complete in strength contests and stuff."

"Why?"

"I don't know, ask Charlie. He dated one once."

"Ask me what? I've got sand where the sun don't shine," Charlie complained as he adjusted his shorts and took a seat on the towel next to his twin, speaking in the demon language they had in common.

Rolling her eyes, Charlotte grimaced. "Thanks for the visual."

"Hey!" Narrowing his eyes, he glared at the dog demon. "Are you staring at my sister's boobs?"

Sesshomaru straightened, eyes flashing, "This Sesshomaru does not-"

Charlie grinned and clapped him on the back, "Ha! Made you talk!"

Groaning, Charlotte covered her face with her hands. "God, Charlie, you nincompoop. I am _so_ though apologizing for you." Charlie snickered and poked her in the ribs, making her jump and sit up. He poked her again and she cuffed him over the head. "Knock it off!"

Lunging forward, he caught her in the abdomen with his shoulder and swept her off of the towel. She shrieked as he took off at a run, straight toward the pounding surf. "No, Charlie! I'm not wearing the right bikini! Put me down!" She flailed her legs frantically, bouncing on his shoulder. "Sesshomaru, help-"

With a mighty heave, Charlie launched her into the air and she hit the water with a splash. Grinning like an idiot, he ran back up the beach to his towel and fished an icy soda out of the cooler, taking his sister's place on the towel.

Charlotte stayed in neck-deep in the water until she was certain that her top was properly retied. "Truce my ass," she muttered, kicking back with her feet, letting the current drag her away from the shore. Now that she was in the water, she might as well enjoy herself.

The waves were a little bigger further down the beach and she swam parallel to the shore, letting the tide wash her alternately closer and further away from dry land. An especially large wave rolled toward her and pointed her nose toward land, riding the wave until the water was scarcely knee deep. Changing position, she swam back out, letting the current do most of the work. She rode the waves in and out until her lips were blue and her sinuses burned. Instead of following the tide back out, she stood and fought the drag until she stood on dry sand.

Glancing around, she realized that she was a little further down the beach than she had realized. She sighed and hurried back up the shore, scanning the crowded beach for her little group. A few minutes later, she spotted them, tensely staring out to sea. She grinned, 'They don't see or smell me yet.'

Stealing forward, she circled around to the back of the towel and tiptoed toward them. Only a foot away, she shook herself, sending salt water flying. Sesshomaru flinched, his lips curling off of his teeth. Charlie yelped, shielding his face with his arms. Grinning smugly, Charlotte shoved her brother out of her spot and sat cross-legged.

"Damn, Charlotte, I just got dry," he picked himself up out of the sand and pulled another towel out of their beach bag, wiping ineffectively at the sand clinging to the moisture on his arms.

She mock-scowled at Sesshomaru, who had regained his composure and watched her with a bored expression. "Some help you were." His eyes slid away from her and back out to sea.

XxxxxxxxxxX

Charlotte fussed around in her freezer, trying to find something suitable for dinner. She'd given up on the fridge; too many containers with unidentifiable contents. Charlie wandered up behind her, fresh out of the shower. "Well, I've got frozen pizza and frozen entrées," she said over her shoulder.

"We could order out," he rubbed his cheek over hers in greeting and opened the fridge, allowing her to scoot out of the way before pulling out a beer. She nodded and eased a box back in place, trying not to disturb the items crammed inside. If she weren't careful, the freezer would become self-dispensing.

"I think your guy needs help with the shower," he added as the twisted off the top and dropped the cap in the garbage.

She sighed and wiped her hands on her skirt. "He's not my guy."

Heading toward the bathroom, she wondered what could be the problem. The door was closed, so she knocked politely. "Charlie said you had a problem?"

"Enter," Sesshomaru intoned over the rushing water.

She did, stopping short at the sight of him in his hakama only. Smooth, pale skin was stretched taught over clearly defined muscles. Hairless, his chest seemed carved out of alabaster. He could have been a statue of a Greek god, broken arm and all. Clearing her throat, she dragged her eyes up to his face. "Uhh, what…?"

He pointed at the water streaming down the drain in her small, tiled shower. "This is not a proper bath: there is no place to sit or soak."

She pursed her lips, remembering his wonderful bathhouse. "You stand under the water and let it wash away the grime," she put her hand in the water to demonstrate. "Use this to wash your hair," she pointed to the bottle of shampoo, "then this to condition and detangle it," she pointed to the conditioner. "Put this soap into the poof and scrunch it up to wash your body," she mimed with the body wash and loofa. "Okay?" she gave him a bright smile, wondering if he expected someone to wash his hair as Shoko had done for her.

He nodded but watched the spray of water with a dubious eye. "You might like it," she encouraged. "I think it's invigorating."

"Invigorating," he repeated, turning the full force of those golden eyes on her.

Suddenly aware that she was only wearing a bikini and a wrap-around skirt, she swallowed hard. "Yeah…"

He advanced on her slowly and she remained rooted to the spot, not sure that her legs would move even if she wanted them to. Bending his head toward her, he whispered in her slightly pointed humanoid ear, "What else do you find… invigorating?"

She couldn't help purring, nor pressing her cheek to his and rubbing the length of his delicate cheekbone. Sesshomaru grazed fangs down her neck and she dropped her head to the side, submitting to his ministrations. Through the growing haze her in mind, she knew that he needed this, to lead and dominate. He must feel off balance in her world, a frightening position for a demon lord as powerful as he was.

He let himself smile against her neck; finally, he felt in control of the situation, even if it were just eliciting the responses he wanted from this woman. Covering her pulse point with his mouth, he bit down slowly, relishing the resistance of her skin before it broke. He snaked an arm around her waist, catching her before her knees gave out, her scent spiking with a trill of fear and heady desire. The combination teased his instincts, goading him on to explore her further. With great satisfaction, he realized something that he should have known before: she'd never had a youkai lover.

Caressing the oozing wound with his tongue, he pressed her body against him, growling softly when she tried to brace herself against his chest with her hands. She went limp and he rumbled his approval, nipping at the base of her collarbone. Her purr intensified as his mouth moved lower, taking advantage of the flesh left bare by her top and searing her skin with a trail of kisses. Her body hummed with energy, heat radiating from her core outward to her limbs.

"Charlotte?" Charlie pounded on the door. "How about this Sala-Thai place? It says they deliver."

Sesshomaru growled low against her chest and she tried to blink away the fog. "O-okay," she managed breathlessly, not really caring what she agreed to.

"You guys know we're in the middle of a drought, right?"

"Thank you, Ranger Charlie," she bit back, the tingling in her body receding with each heartbeat.

Sesshomaru released her and stepped back, savoring the taste of her blood. Though not a mating mark, the bite would still ward off other males. Mating was out of the question anyway, she was a mix-breed and did not have noble blood, but it had been too long since he'd bedded a female and this one in particular was… invigorating.

Charlotte rolled her shoulder, the bite already closing, and took a shaky breath. "So…"

"Charlotte?" her brother's anxious voice chased the thought from her head and she whirled, flinging the door open to see what had scared him. A blue light illuminated the room but Charlie was nowhere in sight.

"Charlie?" she called hesitantly, fingers of panic crawling up her spine. "Charlie? This isn't funny." One glance at the painting confirmed her fears. She dashed back into the bathroom and shut off the faucet.

"The painting is moving again and I think Charlie went through it," she gasped out. Sesshomaru brushed past her, grabbing her wrist as he left the bathroom.

"So it is," he cocked his head as he studied the landscape of his feudal mansion, the honeyed light of sunset turning his silver hair to gold. Charlotte reached out, running her fingers through the silky strands, her mind trying to lock onto something important through the worry. His eyes slid toward her, wondering at the liberty she took.

"Sesshomaru, what time was it when you came through the painting?"

"What time?"

"Was it sunset?" He nodded slowly, realization dawning behind his eyes. "It was when I came through the first time, and probably the second as well."

"Come," he tugged lightly on her wrist. Taking her hand, he laced his fingers through hers and brought their hands up to touch the painting together. Normally, he wouldn't have preferred this casual familiarity, but he didn't really know how the thing worked and did not want to be separated on the trip back.

"You know, neither of us are really dressed," Charlotte muttered as the floor slid out from under them.


	14. Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

A/N: This chapter gets a little citrusy in the middle. Please read responsibly. :P

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 14 – Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

Sesshomaru released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as the floor materialized under his feet. Quickly freeing his fingers, he managed to catch the cat before she hit the ground. Out cold, she was a limp weight on his arm. He awkwardly shifted her body until she was braced against his chest, then carried her to the piled cushions in his sitting chamber. After depositing her unconscious form, he untied his hakama and let it drop to he floor and shrugged into a robe. Mildly relieved that he wouldn't have to use the 'shower' after all, he still needed to wash away the sand that had collected under his clothes.

Feeling eyes on his back, he turned toward the cat lying on the cushions. Still reclining in the position in which he had left her, she watched him, warmth lighting the green depth of her eyes. He allowed himself to bask in that warmth for a moment before opening the door to the hall and calling for a servant.

She sat up, rubbing her bare arms. "Where's Charlie?"

"He is not here," he replied after ordering the baths be prepared.

Not surprised, she nodded, "He's probably under that tree." He cocked his head, indicating that he was listening. "That's where I woke up the first time. The second time, I was thinking of my living room and ended up there… I wasn't thinking about anything this last time. You concentrated on this room?"

He nodded and she continued her train of thought. "So, hopefully he was focusing on the painting when he touched it and sent out there." She gestured toward the valley with her thumb. She eyed him speculatively as he fished another robe out of his chest and tossed it to her. 'How did he end up in my apartment? Was he thinking about me?' The thought sparked a tingling deep in her belly.

"Do you always loose consciousness when you travel through the painting?" he asked, his tone polite but unconcerned.

She shrugged. "So far. You didn't?"

He snorted, annoyed at the implied weakness, and changed the subject. "I will send a scout to look for your brother."

She frowned slightly, pursing her lips. "I think I'd rather go myself. He doesn't speak Japanese and may not understand that your scout is trying to help."

She had a point, he acknowledged to himself, and as much as having to search for her obnoxious brother irked him, he wouldn't mind a brief walk through the woods. He nodded sharply, making up his mind. "We will bathe, then leave immediately after. Do not dally."

She bit back a nasty retort when a discreet knock sounded on the door. "Enter," Sesshomaru intoned.

Aoi stepped in, smothering a short gasp when she saw Charlotte sitting on the floor, wrapped in one of her lord's dressing gowns. Her gaze lingered on the bite mark on her neck before she bowed low, her blue-black hair hiding her sharp features, "My lord, the bath is ready."

Sesshomaru nodded to Charlotte and she stood, following the irate demoness out of his chambers. The crow youkai refused to speak to her on the way to the bath, for which Charlotte was grateful.

XxxxxxxxxxX

The waning light of dusk colored the mountain purple and cast the meadow into deep shadow. Pinpoints of light began to prick the sky, shining through the scant clouds left by the spring thundershower that had passed as they had bathed and changed. The air smelled of mulchy earth and wet grass, pungent and alive.

"He's not here," she stared around her as if he would miraculously pop up out of the grass. The branch she had broken still laid where it had fallen, undisturbed.

"He was at one time," Sesshomaru delicately sniffed the air, trying to catch a whiff of the cat's brother. His scent was similar to hers, though touched with a pine aroma that she lacked. The brief rain had not helped; even though it had lasted only a few minutes, it had been heavy and had managed to wash away the trail he would have left.

"It's too dark to search by air," she mussed, rubbing a hand over her face, her ears pinned against her hair. "Should we camp or go back to the mansion?"

Scrutinizing the ground, he finally found a trace of someone's passing. "We camp and follow him in the morning."

Ignoring her happy exclamation, he followed the faint signs leading through the field and into the forest. With tall trees hiding the light of the moon, it was quickly too dark for him to see well enough to track, especially since the air had been scoured clean of his scent.

Scoring the bark of an elm with a claw, he marked where they had left the trail and led the cat to a nearby cave that he knew would be dry and relatively comfortable.

Disappointed that they had stopped searching so quickly, she frowned into the dark mouth of the cave. "Are you sure it's safe?"

He brushed past her, picking his way confidently through the dark. "Yes. I have stayed here before." With a quick look over her shoulder, she followed close behind him.

By touch alone, he found the dry wood that had been stored there. 'This is where Jaken comes in handy,' he thought irritably as he arranged the wood near the entrance of the cave. The Staff of Two Heads lit campfires as well as it burned enemies so he usually didn't have to bother with such trivial matters. Suppressing a sigh, he sent a spark of youkai energy through his finger, immediately starting a cheery blaze in the dry, seasoned wood.

Charlotte settled herself next to him, adjusting the plain blue traveling kimono to accommodate her knees, bent so that she could lean against them with her head propped up on her folded arms. "Maybe he'll see the fire and come to us?"

Sesshomaru stared into the flames, not bothering to answer. She sighed and fell silent. Despite her worry and the hard rock beneath her, the dance and flicker of the flames was soothing. The sandalwood scent of the man beside her filled the cave and she breathed it in, letting it ease away the tension in her body. Without her awareness, her eyelids began to droop, then close.

Sesshomaru registered the change in her breathing and glanced over. She had dozed off sitting next to him, alone and far from any source of help. She trusted him, regardless of the things that had passed between them. The thought gave him pause. How many of his retainers trusted him so absolutely? Rin did, though she was still a child and he had never made an advance on her nor raised a hand in punishment. Jaken, perhaps, but his loyalty was based more on fear than on trust, as made evident by his accusations over the Tenseiga Experiment when he had first found Rin. Most of his retainers feared him and he expected their loyalty, but few, if any, would be comfortable alone with him.

His eyes traced the profile of her face, lingering over her golden cat ears. He'd always considered his brother's ears as vulgar marks of a hanyou's disgrace. Hers were… the right word escaped him, but he decided that they were agreeable to look upon. Why did she trust him like she did and why was this important to him? If asked, he would deny it, but he couldn't lie to himself. He had sought out her company more than once, unheard of for a solitary creature like him, and though the thought irked him, he liked to be with her, to touch her. He knew that she liked to be with him; her gestures of affection spoke volumes more than the lewd conversation she'd had with her friend. His gaze strayed downward to where his teeth had marred the pale flesh of her neck. A flood of heat hit him, and the desire to reopen the bite became almost overpowering.

Dragging his eyes away to stare into the flames, he reasserted his iron control. He stood abruptly and walked just outside the mouth of the cave, letting the cool night air wash over him. The scent of ozone and rain was heavy in the air, the promise of another thunderstorm to come.

Charlotte roused with a quick shake of her head. She hadn't realized she'd fallen asleep but a sudden coldness had woken her up. 'That doesn't make sense. It's warm enough by this fire,' she absently rubbed the fading bite mark. Through the flames of the campfire, she glimpsed the tai-youkai standing with his back to her, the wind teasing through his long silver hair.

'You're not fooling anyone,' the inner voice spoke up.

She sighed and leaned a cheek against her shoulder, staring blankly at the stone floor of the cave. A far-off rumbling of thunder, followed by the patter of rain hitting the forest floor shook the night air.

'Why this man? Why here? He's as cold as one of my computers but he can turn me into a puddle with one look.' Chemistry or instinct, it had her so far over her head that she'd doubt she'd see the light again. The hot breath on her neck seemed like the ghost of a memory until an equally hot tongue bathed her bite mark.

She gasped and arched back in reflex, her head falling onto the shoulder behind her. An arm slipped around her waist and across her chest, pulling her against hard armor. Moaning, she could only hold onto that arm as her blood ignited in her veins with each scrape of his fangs. He growled deep in his chest as his fingers sought the opening at the neckline of her kimono. Laying her hand on top of his, she guided him under her clothes to the bare skin that trembled for his touch. Her rough tongue found his ear, rasping along the edge of the delicate point before pulling the lobe into her teeth. Claws grazed over a hard nipple, then squeezed her breast as his teeth sank into her neck. A deafening clap of thunder drowned out her feral cry of pleasure.

Twisting in his arm to face him where he knelt behind her, she straddled his lap with her knees and dragged his face toward her with two handfuls of silky hair. Still wet with her blood, his lips devoured hers in a bruising kiss that stole her breath. She parted her lips and slid her tongue into his mouth, exploring the deepest recesses. Scraping his teeth over her tongue, he pushed hers back as he pulled her hips against his.

Her loins throbbed with each squeeze of her butt. She tugged his sash loose and untied the hidden leather thong that attached his chest plate to the spiked shoulder piece. Shrugging out of his armor with practiced ease, he broke the kiss only to fling the armor into the back of the cave. Freed from the metal guard, his need surged against his hakama and she ground her hips against him, amazed at the hard length beneath the fabric. His amber eyes began to bleed red as he stared into her green ones and she rubbed her cheek along his, pressing her body to him and letting the friction open her kimono further.

His mouth dropped to her chest and with a quick movement, he had her on her back on the cave floor, blanketing her body with his. Fighting against the instinct to take her immediately, he nipped at a pink nipple, dragging claws down her stomach. One of her legs entwined with his as she pushed against him with her hips. Each swipe of his tongue sent shockwaves through her body, collecting into a pulsing ache in her belly. He pushed back, driving her into the ground with his groin. The whites of her eyes were touched with red as the beast within her strained against her control; it wanted him as badly as she did but she wasn't ready to let it have its way yet.

A flash of red in the corner of her eye alerted her that they were not alone. Through the thick haze that clouded her mind, a silver-haired man stared at them with growing horror, his amber eyes fierce and strained. "Uh," she shoved lightly against Sesshomaru's shoulder. "Your brother's here"

Sesshomaru glanced up, pausing the torment of her nipple. Eyes widening and bloodied teeth bared, he released her abruptly and covered her with his body, hiding as much of her as possible.

"Sesshomaru! I knew you were a bastard, but I thought ravishing women would be beneath even you!" the silver haired demon yelled, drawing a rusty sword. The sword pulsed with power as it transformed into an enormous fang-shaped blade.

"Hey now, wait a sec…" she protested from underneath the voluminous folds of his sleeves, closing her kimono over her exposed breasts.

"Inuyasha, you fool," Sesshomaru snarled, crawling over her and to his feet, drawing a wicked sword that pulsed with dark energy.

"It was a consensual ravishing!" she added, rolling to her feet and adjusting her clothes. Fortunately, she was still mostly hidden by the enraged dog demon.

The crash of metal on metal echoed off the cave walls, shattering the magic of the night. With growing alarm, Charlotte realized that these two were not play fighting as she and her brother did: they were at if for real.

"Stop it, you guys! This isn't worth it!" she yelped and ducked an errant swing of Sesshomaru's evil sword. The roof of the cavern was lower further away the mouth, a fact she quickly learned when she stood and hit her head on a sharp protrusion. Cursing, she rubbed the knot and squinted at the pair.

Even within the small confines of the cave, Inuyasha insisted on charging his brother, his blade slung over his shoulder. Sesshomaru easily parried it, sending sparks flying and an irate hanyou smashing into the wall of the cave. Charlotte was forced to dodge again, this time the snarling mess of Sesshomaru's brother. The impact hardly fazed him; within moments, he was rushing at the tai-youkai again, swinging his sword as power funneled around it.

Three shocked human faces peered into the cave, firelight reflecting off their frightened eyes. The girl wearing a school began to fumble with a bow and Charlotte shot her a desperate look, gesturing frantically at the battling males. She seemed to understand and nodded firmly. As Sesshomaru raised his arm for another cut, Charlotte leapt forward and tackled him at the waist just as the girl raised her voice in an unlikely shout, "Osuwari!"

Energy surged around the beads at the hanyou's neck, pulling him into the ground at his feet. Sesshomaru managed to grab his tackler, twisting her around so that she took the brunt of the fall when they hit the cave wall next to his brother, digging sharp claws into her shoulder. Too late to soften the landing, he recognized his attacker and pulled his claws out of her flesh.

Charlotte struck her head on another sharp rock with enough force to see stars, her body going limp as her ears rang. Grey crept over her vision as the ringing grew louder, blotting out the golden eyes above her.

Sesshomaru stared down at her glazed eyes, mounting anger and concern fighting for dominance, even as he struggled to keep his expressionless mask in place. She was more demon than human, and to have been struck unconscious by a blow to the head must mean that she had hit it very hard. Of course she had been knocked out, he had reflexively switched their positions and flung her into the rock so that his attacker would be injured instead of him. She was lucky that he hadn't brought poison into his claws.

The tang of her blood permeated the air, too heavy to have been caused by one of his bites. He ignored his sputtering half-brother and slipped an arm under her shoulders, lifting her away from the rocks. Her head lolled forward as he eased her into a sitting position so that he could get a look at the back of her head. Though swollen and bleeding, she showed no sign of having broken anything. His brother's human wench hurried forward and knelt by him, trying to see the damage. He warned her off with narrow look.

Charlotte groaned and squeezed her eyes shut against the pain in her head. Steadying herself against the person who held her up, her searching fingers touched the wound, coming away slick with blood.

"That was foolish, cat," Sesshomaru said sternly, his face close to hers. She blinked up at him, her eyes slightly blurry and her head still humming from the impact.

"Didn't want to get hit with your sword," she mumbled through thick lips.

"That's right, you bastard. Fucking-"

"Osuwari," the girl's command sent the hanyou back into the ground.

"Kagome!" he protested, his voice muffled by the stone floor of the cavern.

Charlotte watched in astonishment, her eyebrows shooting up, "Ooh, where could I get one of those?"

"Woman!" Sesshomaru snapped but didn't let go of her.

"It'd beat playing quarterback," Charlotte muttered to herself, dabbing at the wound with the corner of her sleeve. She glared up at Kagome, who seemed to be hovering just out of Sesshomaru's reach. "What are you guys doing here, anyway?"

"Uhhh, it was raining and we saw the fire, so we thought we could join whoever was here…" her voice trailed off under the scrutiny of two pairs of demon eyes. She took a deep breath, seeming to gather her courage. "What started their fight this time?"

Charlotte studied the young girl, no more than sixteen or seventeen years old. She smelled of fear but she didn't let it faze her, standing close to the source of that fear. 'Why is she afraid of Sesshomaru? There's a history here that I might not want to know…' Charlotte let none of her thoughts show on her face, smirking at the sulking hanyou who had been released from the subduing spell. "I think he tried to come to my rescue. Kind of cute, really, but I didn't need rescuing."

Inuyasha snorted, "Keh. Goes to show what you know." A slow blush crept up his neck and Kagome eyed him curiously.

"Oh?" she asked, wondering what could have brought out the hanyou's protective side, then embarrass him.

Stepping into the cave, the monk Miroku gave the tai-youkai an almost sympathetic look. "I see what happened here. Inuyasha walked in on a delicate situation." Said hanyou flushed a deeper shade of red but refrained from commenting.

XxxxxxxxX

Miroku regarded the cat demon with a pious look, his hands steepled in front of his face, "So you say that your brother came through a time-traveling painting and is now missing?"

Charlotte nodded carefully so as not to jar her aching head. Kagome had cleaned it up and removed the blood from her hair, but it was still sore. "Yeah. Normally, I'd find the parties to find him: he's always off boffing some chick. But here…"

Miroku interrupted her train of thought at the unfamiliar term, "Boffing?"

"You know, boning, banging, showing his 'o' face, making sweet love down by the fire…"

"Ah! He enjoys the company a fine woman!" Miroku's eyes sparkled in delight.

"Oh yeah! In fact, we had this system when we went partying, you know, drinking and dancing. We'd get plastered, he'd make his move on his target and I'd run interference with her date-"

Sesshomaru growled from his seat against the wall of the cave, as far away from the group as he could get but still keep them in his line of sight. He'd wanted to cast his brother's motley group out of their shelter, but after a pleading look from the cat, he had agreed to let them stay. Irritated that he'd allowed his mind to be changed, he was reminded of Rin and the exceptions he made for her. His only consolation was that his brother had snorted in disgust and stomped out of the cave, taking a seat outside in the pelting rain. His wench had tried to coax him back inside and had ended up sitting with him under one of her strange contraptions.

Charlotte cocked at ear toward him and winced, cutting her story short. "…uhh, so yeah, he's missing."

Miroku pursed his lips in thought, then raised a finger, "About this 'interference',"

Charlotte peeked at Sesshomaru. He was watching her intently and though his expression was as impassive as ever, she knew he was angry and didn't want to push him. "I probably shouldn't go into it."

Sango paused in the polishing of her Hiraikotsu, her dislike of the cat easing as she got to know her. She wasn't interested in the monk, and with Sesshomaru staring holes in their backs, Miroku was keeping his hands to himself. "What does your brother look like?"

"Like me; tall, blonde."

"Does he have ears like yours?"

"Yeah, but he can look pretty human when he wants to."

Miroku nodded in sudden understanding. "I see where Lady Sango is going. We met a man with your coloring earlier this evening, but he appeared to be human. Inuyasha said that he smelled human as well."

"Where did you see him?" Charlotte's heart rate increased with excitement and she leaned forward, watching the demon exterminator intently.

Sango pursed her lips as if she'd eaten something sour. "Not far from here. He groped me and I hit him, hard." She emphasized her statement by clenching her fist, her long black ponytail swishing with the motion.

Sighing, Charlotte rolled her eyes and pushed to her feet. "Sounds like him, alright. At least he's okay."

She wandered over to the demon lord and leaned against the wall next to where he sat. Outwardly, he didn't acknowledge her presence but subtle changes in his body language told her that he was not ignoring her and that she was not unwelcome. She trilled a question in the youkai language and he nodded slowly, rising to his feet. Gliding gracefully over the rough stone even though he had to duck to avoid bumping his head, he lead her deeper into the cave and around a bend so that they still had some light from the fire but privacy from the others.

"Are you still mad at me?" she asked, blinking up at him. His face was cold but his eyes held a spark of warmth in their golden depths that took her breath away.

Finally, he barked a soft 'no', brushing her cheek lightly with his knuckles. "I should be."

She smiled and leaned into his hand, purring quietly. "I'm sorry."

His lips twitched, despite himself. "You should be." He dropped his hand from her face and found a comfortable niche in which to settle. She sank down beside him and nuzzled under his arm up to his side, rubbing her cheek on the fur of his Mokomoko-sama. He tensed at the contact; sex was one thing, but cuddling? He had never had any desire to be close to another being in that way, touching for the sake of touching. He hadn't cuddled the females he had bedded and even Rin was kept at an arm's length. Possession, conquest, domination, he knew. This was… unnerving, to say the least.

He moved to push her away, but she simply nestled in closer, her purr starting to relax his body. He could tolerate this, he decided, shifting his position so that they were both more comfortable. "You are an insubordinate woman," he chided but without any harshness.

"I'm not anyone's kept woman," she murmured sleepily, not bothering to open her eyes. Not really knowing why she had felt the need to be so close to him, she'd given in to the urge, cozying up into him as she had her mother and brother when they were young. He hadn't rejected her and now she felt so content; even her head didn't bother her that much. 'Don't get used to it. You don't belong here.' the thought invaded her mind like poison and she pushed it away. She would enjoy it while it lasted. Live for the moment, isn't that what they said?

"This says you are," he brushed the tip of his nose over the sensitive scars left by his teeth, sending a delightful shiver through her body.

She stretched her neck a little to give him better access. "Careful with that, or you'll start something."

He growled softly, irritated that they had been interrupted again, and by none other than his worthless brother. "If I had sent them away, we could have finished something." She chuckled and stroked his chin with her cheek, a feline gesture of affection, then rested her head against his shoulder. Letting his arm drape over her back, he laid his chin on the top of her head, careful not to touch the healing wound. Yes, he could tolerate this, maybe even become accustomed to it.


	15. Hurry Up and Wait

A/N: This is the clean version of this chapter. The unedited version is posted on my mediaminer account – you can access it using the link on my profile.

My next update will probably be a little late. I have company coming form out of town and will not have much time to write.

Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 15 – Hurry Up and Wait

Charlotte leaned on the edge of the cave's mouth, marveling at the morning. Each plant seemed scrubbed clean and sparkling new, the greens so vibrant that they seemed to shimmer. Birds rioted overhead, making up for lost time, she supposed. Even the air smelled fresh, though nothing like that awful laundry detergent one of her friends used. '_Spring Rain _my ass. Can they bottle this scent?' She took another deep breath, letting the air blow from her mind the delicious feeling of waking up against Sesshomaru. He was gone now; had disappeared soon after they had woken up.

His brother's group was bustling around a cooking fire several yards from the cave, laughing, talking, fighting, and eating. Inuyasha was making a special effort to pick on a young fox demon and ignore her. She wasn't sure where the little kitsune had come from; she hadn't seen him the previous evening. Then again, she'd been somewhat distracted…

'Too distracted. You're letting this guy get way too close,' she told herself firmly. She sighed and let her head fall back against the stone wall of the cave. A tiny voice mewed up at her and her ears perked forward as she located the source. A yellow two-tailed fire cat rubbed against her ankle and mewed again, blinking up at her with wide, red, limpid eyes. The kitten spoke a lower form of nekoyoukai language, one that Charlotte had never heard before but instinctively understood. She trilled back a response and sat on the ground cross-legged to get closer to eye-level with the cat.

"Kirara!" Sango called from her seat near the fire, setting her bowl on the ground beside her. The cat had been missing during night and she was relieved to see her back. Relief faded into annoyance as the cat ignored her, choosing to stay in the female demon's lap. Kirara flicked her tails, trilling enthusiastically and Charlotte giggled, mewling back. Were they talking to each other? She got to her feet and approached the two with her hands planted on her hips.

"Kirara," she tried to mask the jealousy in her voice. Two pairs of cat's eyes fixed on her. With a start, she noticed that the woman's pupils were slit. Sango held out her arms and Kirara leapt into them, purring. Charlotte grinned up at them impishly, a knowing gleam in her eyes.

"What were you talking about?" Sango asked, stroking Kirara's soft fur possessively.

"Just gossiping," came the vague reply.

"Where's Sesshomaru?"

Charlotte shrugged; she had been wondering the same thing. "How should I know? It's not like he left a note or something."

"But aren't you two…?" Sango trailed off, not really wanting to go there. The thought of Sesshomaru doing _that_, well, it made her a little ill.

"What? Fucking? We would be if we didn't keep getting WALKED IN ON," she raised her voice on the last few words, giving the hanyou a pointed stare hit that him between the shoulder blades. Inuyasha turned beet red and leapt into the branches of the nearest tree, abandoning the kitsune on whom he had been pounding. Miroku choked on his breakfast, trying to strangle an unholy fit of laughter. If possible, Sango and Kagome blushed harder than Inuyasha, Sango even more so when Kirara mewed and Charlotte winked at her, sharing some feline secret.

"Hentai," Sango muttered under her breath and stomped back to her friends, trying to shut out the nekoyoukai's bright laughter.

Kagome reluctantly pulled her math book out of her bag, deciding that since they didn't seem to be leaving anytime soon, she might as well use the time to study. She flipped through the pages until she found the current assignment, groaning when she saw the familiar wave patterns on the page.

"Oh, that looks like fun," Charlotte stated sarcastically over her shoulder. She had wandered over to the group and stood just behind Kagome, peering at the math book.

Sighing forlornly, Kagome pulled a sheet of scrap paper out of her bag. "I used to be good at math. Now that I'm always traveling through the well, I miss a ton of class and can barely keep up with my assignments."

"Hmm. Want some help? It's been a while but I've taken a lot of math."

Kagome glanced up at the woman warily. "Why would you want to help me? You're with Sesshomaru."

She shrugged, sitting cross-legged beside her so that they both could read the page. "I'm not involved in your little dispute. Kirara explained it a little, but I still don't really understand what the problem is. Besides, I'm bored."

"O-okay," Kagome reached into her bag and fished another pencil from pencil box.

"So, your well only lets you and Inuyasha pass through?" Kagome nodded and handed her the pencil. Charlotte clicked lead into the tip and nabbed another sheet of paper.

"What do you do in your time?" Kagome ventured, letting her curiosity get the better of her.

"I write software."

"Oh, it must be very exciting!"

Charlotte shrugged dismissively, "It was interesting at the beginning – solving riddles with simple statements, fitting pieces of a puzzle together to form a whole application. Now it's drudgery. I can't help feeling like I've missed the point of my life."

Kagome regarded her with brown eyes misty with sympathy. Charlotte smiled at her and tapped the page of her math book. "I hope you find what you really love. Don't waste time on the unimportant stuff. You know?"

Kagome nodded, only giving the cat demon half of her attention as she explained about cosines. Why was this woman with Sesshomaru, of all people? She couldn't love him; he was incapable of compassion or caring. And yet, here she was, strangely sad and following the cold dog demon like Rin. Well, not quite like Rin, she thought with a blush. She didn't know the details of Miroku's "delicate situation", didn't _want_ to know, but she was sure he wasn't doing whatever it was with that sweet child.

"So let's try this one," Charlotte pointed with a claw at the first problem on the page.

Kagome cringed guiltily. "Uhh… could you explain it one more time?"

Grinning, Charlotte shook her head. "Don't worry, I never found sines and cosines very provocative either. Okay…" She launched into the discussion again and Kagome did her best to follow.

XxxxxxxxX

Kagome sighed for what seemed like the millionth time, wishing that she _did_ have another subduing rosary. Then maybe she could get Charlotte to stop teasing poor Inuyasha. The hanyou would be permanently stained red from blushing if he didn't get a break soon. She was sure that he would have been long gone if he trusted them with the nekoyoukai. Kagome thought that was silly; she liked Charlotte, even if she was as perverse as Miroku, and didn't think she would try to hurt them. She'd also been a big help with her math homework. She might even pass that test on Wednesday.

Miroku was relishing the torment of the hanyou, chiming in occasionally, but mostly snickering at her lewd comments and the shy boy's reactions. Shippo, who was enjoying it more than Miroku, wisely kept silent and smothered his laughter behind a tiny paw.

After a particularly rude comment, Inuyasha harrumphed and launched into the air, choosing to leap from branch to branch instead of walk with the rest of the group. They were heading toward the last place they had seen Charlie, hoping to pick up his trail. Sesshomaru had been absent all morning and finally Charlotte had asked them to retrace their steps.

Miroku howled and clutched his stomach but managed to call out after him, "Come now, Inuyasha, it's not that bad. Why don't you two just kiss and make up?"

Shippo snorted from Kagome's shoulder. "You better hope Sesshomaru didn't hear that."

Primly pursing her lips, Charlotte wrinkled her nose. "No, thank you. I hear that he likes to kiss dead things."

"Oi!"

"What's up with that, anyway? I'm sure you could find someone much more willing and warm…" she yelled after him, giving Kagome a slow wink. Kagome flushed and groaned, finding herself hoping that Sesshomaru would return soon, something she'd never thought she'd want.

"You're one to talk!" he shouted back through the branches, still surprisingly close. For all the grief she was giving him, Kagome wondered if he hadn't tried to beat her up yet because she was the only youkai they'd ever met that didn't treat him like a filthy inferior. Teased the daylights out of him, yes, but held no prejudice against his half-demon nature.

"At least mine's still got blood in his veins."

Miroku nodded sagely. "Ah, yes. Blood flow is very important."

"It's amazing there's any blood left to flow considering the size-"

"Cat!" Sesshomaru snapped from behind them. She bit her tongue and almost missed her footing; she hadn't heard him approach and from Inuyasha's yelp, she suspected he hadn't either.

"Ha!" the hanyou crowed down at her, eyes glinting in delight that she'd earned his brother's ire.

"Since you're half demon, does that mean you're half the size?" she queried with a mock-thoughtful expression.

Inuyasha took the bait and dropped to the ground in front of her, brandishing a fist in her face. "Just because I'm half-demon, doesn't make me-"

"Inuyasha, do not encourage her." Sesshomaru came to stand behind her, staring coldly at his flustered brother. Taking hold of her forearm, he propelled her away from the group. She went willingly, her good humor melting away. Whatever he had to say couldn't possibly be good.

XxxxxxxxxxxX

Charlotte stared numbly at the torn earth and scarred trees. "This is where it ends?" She felt his nod and stamped down the rising panic. Blood had been spilt here, Charlie's and others, but she couldn't help him by going into hysterics. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and tried to distance herself emotionally from the situation, pretend that it was happening to someone else.

"I don't understand. Why would someone attack him? He's not the kind of guy to pick a fight…" she trailed off as Sesshomaru raised a gleaming eyebrow. "Well, with someone other than me, of course."

"These are violent times, Lady. Even those with the best of intentions often meet with harm," Miroku stated, then said a small prayer for her brother's safety.

"I don't know that his intentions are good, exactly, but he certainly wouldn't have done anything to warrant assault or abduction." A fluttering of color caught her eye and she strode to a low bush, pulling a piece of red cloth from a twig and turning it over in her hand. "What's this?"

"Debris left by his assailants," Sesshomaru grated, irritated by such an obvious question.

"Yeah, but this symbol looks familiar," she turned the piece of cloth around, trying to place the red and black pattern. It wasn't a whole design, but she thought that she should know it

Sesshomaru glanced at the fragment of material in her hands. He'd seen it before but had ignored it, figuring it was what it looked like – garbage. Another quick peek at the fabric stopped his breath; held properly, it look like a corner of a house crest, one that he knew and disliked. He snatched it out of her hands, brushing off her protest.

"Lord Yukio," he growled.

She placed her hand on his arm and leaned slightly into him, staring intently at the scrap of material. "Hey, you're right. What the fuck is he doing here?" Sesshomaru gave her a narrow glare from the corner of his eyes, which she intercepted and returned. "I think foul language is acceptable in this situation."

He chose to let that comment pass. "Not the lord himself, but one of his spies."

"And he had some sort of flying beast." Sesshomaru nodded at her observation. "But what would he want with my brother?"

He didn't answer. Lord Yukio wouldn't want her brother but it was possible that he was taken in a case of mistaken identity. The twins did look very much alike, and the spy may have attacked before realizing his error. In that case, Lord Yukio was trying to take what was his, a thought that angered him greatly. On the other hand, he may have been abducted for information about the Western Lands, which meant that the fire lord could be planning a coup or invasion. Her hand tightening on his arm stilled the soft growl that curled from his throat.

"Regardless of Yukio's intentions, this Sesshomaru will crush him."

"Chill. We have no concrete evidence that Yukio is, in fact, responsible. If you attack him outright, he can say that my brother jumped his messenger and claim injury from you. I can't imagine that your neighbors would be thrilled about living next door to a war-mongerer. We should sneak in, grab Charlie, and sneak out. Then you get your proof and kick Yukio's ass."

Sesshomaru silently stared at her in shock. Was this his cat talking to him or one of his generals? He recovered quickly and decided to test her strategy, "And to where do you propose to sneak?"

"Finding him isn't really the issue: I think the painting will take us straight to him. Sneaking _out_ will be the problem and so will finding our way back. Yukio could have taken him anywhere."

Sango smiled at her, determination darkening her eyes. "I'll help you. I know what's it like to lose a brother." Kagome nodded, thinking of her own brother, Sota, and the lengths to which she would go to ensure his safety.

Inuyasha snorted, "I'd _like_ to lose a brother."

"Belligerent asshole," Charlotte muttered but softened the comment with a wink. "But we can't start today; I have to go to work tomorrow."

"It's not appropriate that you work," Sesshomaru stated, disapproval gleaming in his golden eyes.

"I'm not discussing this with you right now," she snapped back testily, pinching the bridge of her nose against an oncoming headache. Going to work was the last thing she wanted to do, especially with her brother in the hands of an enemy, but she couldn't see a way around it. If she wanted to keep her normal life, she would have to make an appearance. Otherwise, she'd not only lose her job, but her carefully maintained reputation. She'd have to find a good reason to take more time off, but she couldn't just play hooky, explaining that a demon lord in feudal japan had kidnapped her brother. He would be okay for one day, she hoped. "I'm expected at work tomorrow and if I don't show, they'll fire me. I have a life, you know."

"Destroy the painting. Then she _can't_ go back," Inuyasha goaded.

Kagome's eyes blazed briefly, "Osuwari!"

Charlotte smirked at the hanyou in the dirt. Kirara had mentioned his reluctance to let Kagome go back to her own time for schoolwork. His comment must have struck a nerve. A nasty thought hit her and the smile fell from her face. "No, he's right," she said slowly, staring at the fabric still held in Sesshomaru's grasp. "You should destroy it after my brother and I have gone back. We don't know why Yukio gave it to you, nor all of its functions. It isn't safe."

Even as she said it, she felt her heart constrict. 'You knew this wasn't going to last forever. You're getting too attached anyway.'' she scolded herself. But she'd hoped it would have been longer than two weeks. And maybe it wasn't such a bad thing, to let someone in and share her life with him. The little voice snorted in disgust, 'Your mother mated and look what it got her: two children to raise by herself and a premature end to a life that should have been long and vibrant.'

"She's not dead," she almost whispered aloud, refuting the acrid voice of her beast. 'Dead to you,' it replied.

Sesshomaru understood the wisdom behind her words. Yukio had demonstrated himself as an enemy and the painting was too perilous to keep. What he didn't understand was the ice in his veins at her quiet words, nor the raging of his youkai that he reigned in with a steely will. Only the flaring of his aura betrayed him; his face remained remote and expressionless.

Had he expected her to follow him forever, like Rin? She was strong-willed, intelligent, and high-spirited. Women like that did not make good concubines, but she could be nothing more to him than that. To be honest, he hadn't really thought about it; he'd assumed that she would be his because he wanted her and he always got what he wanted.

Kagome's eyes widened in astonishment at the inuyoukai's agitation; could the stoic lord actually care for the Charlotte? Lust and love were two different things, and she'd thought that the former was the case when they'd found them last night. Was she wrong? Stranger things had happened. Her kind heart reached out to him; to have finally found someone he (dare she think it?) loved and to have her leave soon after. Kagome wondered if that were to be her fate: to have to return to the future without her Inuyasha.

Sesshomaru caught Kagome's sad gaze and frowned slightly. The filthy human seemed to feel sorry for him, which he found repulsive. What he was about to do was equally repulsive, but it couldn't be helped. Good breeding dictated good manners, even if the recipients had no breeding whatsoever. Addressing the miko since she was staring at him, he stated, "You and your friends will stay as guests in my mansion until we are ready to leave."

"Keh. Like hell we are," Inuyasha growled, folding his arms over his chest. He had never set foot in his father's house and had no desire to do so now.

Sesshomaru fixed his brother with a bored stare. "You will stay in my mansion and guard the painting or you will leave the Western Lands. It makes no difference to this Sesshomaru."

"We humbly accept your hospitality," Kagome cut in before Inuyasha could mouth off again. She wanted to help the cat demon, even if it meant staying under Sesshomaru's roof. Who knows, maybe the if the brothers spent a little more time not fighting, they might be able to get past their differences.

XxxxxxxxX

Sesshomaru stood at one of the tall windows of her apartment, watching headlights rush by on the dark streets below. Light filled her world, electric lamps buzzed in her kitchen, televisions shone through the windows of other apartments, streetlamps chased the shadows from the mouths of alleys; even the night sky wasn't completely dark. An orange haze blotted out all but the most brilliant stars with a repressive stubbornness. Light, as far as the eye could see, but this was all false light; only _her_ light was true.

She joined him by the window, leaning against the frame and following his line of sight. "Do you really wish to stay here?" he asked, idly running his claws through her hair.

"It's not a question of want. I belong here. If I stayed with you, what then? We can't mate: you're a feudal lord and probably need to make some political alliance, not to mention the fact that I'm not full demon. I'd be a concubine until you found a mate, then I'd be a threat to that woman." He tried to break in and she stilled him with a finger on his lips. "I know how women think, and your mate wouldn't like me. No, I don't want that life." And I don't want a mate, she added silently to herself. She almost believed it.

He nodded once. She understood far more than he'd given her credit. Smiling sadly at his confirmation, she continued, "I once heard someone say, 'People meet and people part (1).' That doesn't mean we can't enjoy the time we have." She stepped into him, pulling his Mokomoko-sama from his shoulder to pool at their feet. Running a claw down the center of his armor and over the knot of his sash, she latched onto one of the ends, tugging lightly until it joined his boa on the floor.

He took her invitation, removing his armor and reaching for the hastily tied belt of her kimono, but she danced out of his reach, giggling. Eyes narrowing, he lunged for her, his youkai teased by her little game. She grinned at him and dodged, shrieking a little when one of his claws snagged in the fabric of her kimono. Backing away slowly in a slight crouch, she eyed him from underneath her lashes, passion shining in her green irises. He growled, baring his teeth and tensing to spring. She spun and tore up the stairs the moment he uncoiled, almost reaching the landing before his weight bore down on her. His claw slit the back of her kimono, tearing the garment in half, but she managed to wiggle out of it and from under him and scramble onto her bed. Roaring as only a fully aroused youkai can, Sesshomaru leapt after her and she met him dead on, letting his momentum knock them both onto the soft comforter.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx lemon xxxxxxxxxxX

Slipping his arm around her back, he lifted her from the wall and crawled carefully backward, panting harshly. Her arms relaxed around him and she buried her face in his neck, nuzzling it and purring contentedly. Still joined, he laid them down on their sides on the disheveled comforter. Curling up against him, she rested her cheek on his shoulder, tracing swirling patterns in the sweat on his chest.

Was he really going to have to give her up? She usually meant what she said to him, even when she was teasing. But her words had been correct: he couldn't mate her and she wouldn't stay as his concubine. Sometimes, favored concubines met with bad ends; disappeared or suddenly fell ill. He growled quietly, holding her closer to him. Would it be so terrible if he had a mate that he desired, even if she had a little human blood? His father had mated a full human… though he already had Sesshomaru as his heir. For a moment, he felt a brief stab of jealousy of his brother, who could chase the tail of any female he wished. And he chose priestesses, for kami's sake.

"What are you growling about?" Charlotte shifted so that she could see his face. Instead of answering, he kissed her gently, searchingly; through his lips trying to learn if she, too, wished things could be different. Her eyes slid shut, the intensity of the emotions conveyed by his kiss filling her being with joy and sweet sadness. Tears pricked the backs of her eyelids as she gave herself to him, not in instinct and lust, but her heart, vulnerable and fragile. He brushed light kisses over her face and across her eyelids, catching with his tongue the tiny drop of moisture that had escaped.

Little by little, she untethered her beast, wanting him to have all of her, if just for this one night. She felt his youkai stir in response, rising up to meet her as the energy raised gooseflesh on her skin.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx lemon xxxxxxxxxxX

Finally able to breath without gasping, his youkai safely back on it's leash, he rolled to her side, shifting her so that their bodies were spooned, his arm possessively wrapped around her stomach. Nipping at the junction of her neck and shoulder, he whispered her name like a litany.

XxxxxxxxX

Charlotte's body jerked at the sudden harsh buzzing, shocking her out of the most wonderful dream that she'd had in years. The last of it was evaporating even as her mind scrambled to catch it, leaving only a vague sense of longing. The warm pressure at her back vanished and a startled inuyoukai sat up and snarled at the little black box by her bed. Before he could destroy it, she smacked the snooze bar and rolled over, dragging him back down with a handful of silver hair and kissing his curled lips.

"What is that obnoxious thing?" he grouched, softening only slightly as she dusted his face with kisses.

"My alarm. Gotta get up for work," but she was much too content to get up yet. Snuggling into his warmth, she pressed an ear against his chest, relishing the sounds of his breathing and heartbeat, the sharp smell of sex on his skin. His arm draped over her, holding her with a surprising tenderness. She'd almost drifted off when the alarm sounded again, breaking the peaceful mood with a sacrilegious assault on their ears. With an exasperated sigh, she crawled out of bed and turned the thing off, resisting the urge to go back to sleep. Sesshomaru's rumble of protest brought a slight smile to her lips; he apparently wanted the same thing she did.

After setting up the coffee pot, she showered perfunctorily and dressed in a knee-length brown skirt trimmed in pink lace, form fitting but paneled to give her legs easy movement. A tailored pink sweater and pink sling backs finished the outfit. She'd had short hair two weeks ago, so she decided to roll her now long tresses into a neat twist with soft tendrils framing her face. She was anchoring the last stray strands of hair with a bobby pin when Sesshomaru wandered into the bathroom and leaned against the doorframe, watching her. She gave him a quick smile in the mirror before lining her eyes with the liquid liner that she preferred.

He let his rove over her body; even covered by her strange clothes, he could still see the curves that had so mesmerized him the night before. Though she had bathed, his scent mingled with her own, which gave him an unfamiliar sense of satisfaction. A horn blared from outside the building, shattering his contentment by the reminder that she would be out of his reach, soon. He squelched the rising sorrow. He was Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands, and he did not need anyone. It was not even appropriate that he want her. Besides being a mix-breed and a peasant, she had few manners and did not know her place. But he wouldn't be bored…

"What is that?" he asked suddenly, striding forward and catching her wrist, turning it slowly to examine the thin, pale scar that encircled it.

"Old scar," she said shortly, pulling her hand away and applying mascara. She ignored his frown, concentrating on not poking her eye in her agitation.

"How did it happen?" his voice deepening; he did not like her evasive answer. The scar implied a grievous injury, but for it have remained scarred was very unusual for a demon, even a mix-breed. If left alone, the marks made by his teeth would be gone in a couple of days. A terrible wound would vanish in a couple of weeks.

She brushed by him and out of the bathroom, heading for the kitchen and fresh coffee. "It was a long time ago. No big deal." Filling a travel mug, she grabbed her purse and laptop.

"What are you going to do while I'm gone?" she asked, changing the subject before he could pursue it. He scowled at her, obviously not pleased by her tactic. Sighing, she pointed at the little collection of items she had given him the previous evening. "Well, whatever you choose to do, take that phone with you. You remember how to use it? Here's some money, in case you go shopping. Just hand it to the clerk, they'll give you the right change. I'll be back before sunset." She was babbling and she knew it. With a quick kiss to his cheek, she hustled out the door, into the elevator and into her car.

She rubbed her temple as she eased her foot off brake, inching forward in the gridlocked mess that was the 110 freeway. Why did he have to take an interest in that scar? Because it shouldn't have been there, that's why. It was hardly noticeable but the florescent lights of the bathroom must have illuminated it, as they always seem to bring out the tiniest imperfections.

She shuddered and rubbed the scar as the clouded, painful memories rose unbidden in her mind. She'd still been a cub, only seven years old, on a jaunt through the hills under the light of the full moon. Most of the details of that night were lost, as on all nights when she was forced to take her beast form, but several moments were clearly imprinted in her mind. The snap of the trap as it closed over her front paw, rending flesh and shattering bone in one excruciating instant. Roaring and tugging at her imprisoned foot as wave after wave of searing pain engulfed her body. The taste of her own blood as instinct drove her to chew off her own paw in order to free herself.

She'd woken late the next morning minus a hand and weak from blood loss, her mother rocking her limp body and crying. That had been the day her mother had showed her how to use her ability to channel youkai energy. Pushing her own youkai into her cub, and then drawing both youkai into herself, she'd formed a circuit of energy that had stimulated Charlotte's youki to heal her. The hand had regenerated; leaving a thick, red scar around her wrist that eventually faded and had almost disappeared.

Soon after, her mother had cautioned her to never, ever reveal this power to anyone. The ability to channel energy was considered dangerous by other weres and if any were to discover that she could do this, they would try to destroy her. Charlotte hadn't understood what could be so terrible about it until she had accidentally knocked her brother's youkai out of him during a fight. It had absorbed back into him a few terrifying moments later, but she took the warning to heart and kept the power tightly locked up. Until last night…

She cringed, thinking of the light channeling she had done while they had made love. He had brought it out of her, stirring her as no other had done. Though she knew that she shouldn't have done it, the sensation of feeling him inside of her, physically and spiritually, had been exquisite. It was a shame that they couldn't have a repeat later today, but they were storming Yukio's lair tonight, or wherever it was he was keeping Charlie.

The plan was for Sesshomaru and her to go directly to Charlie from her place, and Jaken and Inuyasha's group to use the painting to follow them. Hopefully, they would all end up in the same place.

The lane of cars next to her began to speed up and she leveled a glare at them, her foot firmly planted on the brake. There was no way she could squeeze out of her lane; she was to close to the car in front of her. She'd just have to wait for her own lane to start moving. Drumming the fingers of one hand on the steering wheel, she muttered, "Why is it that I like this place so much?"

A/N: (1)Shido, _Nightstalker_


	16. Discovery

A/N: Yes, it's late. I'm sorry. Did anyone see NIN at the Bowl last night? Man, what a concert. They are as good live as they are in the studio.

FFnet: gothic-ember – I believe in happy endings. Lucifer001 – the 'xlemonx' things are markers for text that I cut out. The full chapter, lemons included, is posted on my mediaminer account.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any other character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 16 – Discovery

Charlotte stared at her computer screen, willing it to find her a good excuse to request more time off. She had to do it soon: midmorning was rapidly waning and her boss would be taking lunch soon. The music pumping into her ears through her headphones prevented her from hearing him until he tapped her shoulder. She jumped and snatched off the headphones, hitting pause on her mp3 player.

"Can I have a word with you in my office?"

Winston leaned back in his plush desk chair, tapping a ballpoint pen against the armrest. His gray eyes were calm and serious, his lips slightly pursed. Charlotte sat across from him and tried not to fidget as she waited for him to speak. Normally a prankster, his solemn mood was a little disconcerting.

"How was your vacation?" he finally asked, leaning forward abruptly and fixing her with an intent gaze.

"Uh, fine, I guess…"

"Mm hmmm. Meet anyone… interesting?"

She blinked at him, confused and a little incensed. "Winston, I don't think-"

"I can smell him on you."

"What?"

"I've suspected for years, but I wasn't sure until you came in this morning." Charlotte touched her ears briefly, in a moment of panic wondering if she'd lost her human shape. "Oh, don't worry, you look human, but you're as human as I am."

His statement hung in the air, ricocheting through her brain like a rubber ball in a squash court. She glanced out his office window; palm fronds waved in the breeze, cars whizzed by on the freeway. Everything seemed normal; no flying monkeys were dropping out of the sky to carry her away. She turned back to her boss, eyes narrowing at his smirk.

"I didn't know you were looking for a mate, otherwise I'd have tried to find out about you sooner. Introduced you around."

"Around? How many are there? I thought my brother and I were it!" She quelled the rising hysteria. It was too much to handle, all of her firmly held beliefs being shattered in two weeks.

"Very few, barely enough to keep the species going. Which is why it's important that we keep tabs on unmated weres."

"I'm not looking for a mate."

"Oh? You _smell_ like you've already found one."

She sighed, resigning herself to the weirdness of the conversation. There were others and she'd never known? And she'd been working for one for the past six years? A sense of elation washed over her; even though she had to leave Sesshomaru, she wouldn't have to be alone. "It's complicated. Why… why have I never sensed them?"

"For the same reason they don't know you – they hide their scent. Like I said, I wasn't sure about you until you came in smelling like _him_. Where did you find a dog? I haven't seen a dog in years…"

"Uh, yeah, about that…" She rubbed a hand over her face, sorting through her thoughts for the best explanation. "He's from out-of-town and he's helping me find my brother."

"He's missing? Have you called the police?"

"It's kinda out of their jurisdiction."

He waited for her to elaborate, but she left it that, sending him an imploring look. "Okay… And you want more time off to look for him." At her nod, he sighed and leaned back into his chair, resuming his pen tapping. "How much time?"

She shrugged, "Hopefully no more than a couple of days, but I don't really know."

"Why didn't you just call in sick?"

"I'll be out of reach as soon as I leave."

He sighed again, heavily, wishing he could smoke in his office. A cigarette sounded really good right now. "I had a project I wanted you to start… small, but urgent."

"I could take it with me and work on it during down time. I really don't think I'll be gone that long."

"Okay. Email me when you can with questions or updates." He handed her a project folder thick with papers. "And take care of yourself. Dogs are known for their possessiveness." He winked at her as she took the folder and stood.

"I will. Thanks, Winston."

XxxxxxxxxxxX

Sesshomaru flared his nostrils, trying to catch the scent that had almost eluded him for the last couple of blocks. He would never have noticed it had he not smelled it before on Charlotte in her human form: an odd, generic human scent. Almost seamlessly blending with the stench of humanity, it had caught his interest through its unusual blandness.

He had left Charlotte's apartment in an uncharacteristic fit of frustration. The smell of her saturated her apartment, reminding him both of what he wanted and couldn't have. Instead of bothering with the elevator and maze of corridors that was her apartment building, he had let himself out the balcony, summoning his demon cloud to take him to the street below.

Several humans had stared at him as he had landed, slack-jawed and bug-eyed like the animals they were. He had ignored them, gliding by them as if they didn't exist, which they didn't, as far as he was concerned. Wandering aimlessly, he had let his feet lead him through the cement paths. It had been at been at the front of a brightly lit shop that the scent had first snared him.

The smell seemed to be coming from a dark little alley between two impossibly tall buildings. It was littered with garbage and stank of urine and decay. Grimacing in distaste, he entered the alley, stepping carefully over a pair of human legs that disappeared under a lean-to made of stiff paper. He couldn't tell if the creature were alive and did not care.

The alley made a ninety-degree turn and was bordered by a high, intricately woven metal fence. He paused a moment to note its construction: he could pass on the design to his engineers. Several plump rats scurried under the fence at the sound of his footsteps. Another turn brought him within sight of the street, shiny cars rushing by as if the alley and its occupants did not exist.

A group of young toughs blocked his path to the egress of the alley, slouching against the building and whispering amongst themselves, casting him dark glances. The odd smell was coming from one of the taller boys. Sporting a thick red mustache, spiked red hair and a ring through his nose, he was undeniably the leader of the group. He threw Sesshomaru a toothy leer and flipped open a butterfly knife.

"This is our alley, motherfucker" the boy growled as his human pack gathered around him. He snapped his wrist and the wicked knife became enclosed in its metal sheath with a series of clacks.

Sesshomaru was not impressed. He fixed the pup with a bored stare and stepped forward.

"Hey, you deaf? I said, this is our alley. You wanna pass, you gotta pay." _Clack-clack-clack_, and the knife-edge gleamed in the light from the street. A chorus of 'yeah' came from his pack, which loosened their clustering behind their leader, pulling out various weapons and spacing themselves to completely cover the mouth of the alley.

Cocking his head, Sesshomaru wondered what the pups intended to accomplish with such ridiculous things. "You disgrace your race with such behavior," his comment was directed at the leader; the rest of the pack was beneath him.

"Freaky fuck, don't know what the fuck you're talking about." The tough brandished his knife but glanced nervously at his pack. He kept secret close; none of his gang knew that he wasn't human. He'd kill any that found out. And here was this brazen asshole showing his were features and _crests_, what the fuck?

"Don't you," Sesshomaru was done playing. Disgusted by the depths to which the youkai population had descended, he was more than willing to put this poor excuse of a demon out of his misery. Summoning his acid whip to his fingers, he flicked it at the youkai.

The gang leader shrieked and jumped to the side, but not before he felt the searing tip of the whip slash across his chest. As a group, his fearless gang screamed and stumbled backwards. They prided themselves on using hand-to-hand weapons, had taken down rival gangs armed with guns. But they had never faced a whip of light that burned flesh and melted stone. One brave soul threw his knife at the chest of the strangely dressed silver-haired man and was rewarded with a quick but painful death as the whip sliced through his neck. The rest of the gang scattered, leaving their leader to his fate.

Sesshomaru ignored the fleeing humans, walking toward the youkai writhing on the ground, the acid burning into the muscles and bone of his chest. The boy cowered under a raised arm, whimpering and yelping in fear and pain.

"Pathetic." He let the whip dissipate and stepped over him. The boy may live, if he was strong enough, but killing him as he groveled held no honor or sport. He had found what he had hunted, disappointing as it was, and was ready to return to her apartment. The city had lost what little intrigue it had held.

XxxxxxxxxxX

Fumbling for her keys in her purse, she tried to keep her computer bag from slipping off her shoulder. Yanking the keys free from the mess of receipts, packages of gum, and change that floated at the bottom of her purse, she muttered a curse and shoved her apartment key into the lock.

"Charlotte?"

She sighed inwardly and turned to her neighbor, pasting a bright smile onto her face and setting her purse and computer bag against the wall by the door. "Hi, Nestor."

He stepped up to her, sidling between her and the apartment door. Watery brown eyes skipped around nervously and he pushed greasy dark hair out of his face with a nervous flick. "I need talk to you."

"Can't it wait, Nestor? I'm in a hurry…"

Advancing, his sharp face twisted into a grimace. "It always has to wait! You never listen to me!"

"Fine, I'm listening," Charlotte backed into the wall, startled at the change in his demeanor. She'd always thought he was weak, but now he was downright creepy. Glancing at the door, she wondered if Sesshomaru was inside and if he'd hear them.

"You're _not_ listening!" He planted a hand on the wall next to her face, yellowing teeth bared in an attempt to snarl. He hadn't appeared to bathe in days and his breath stank of whisky and rotting teeth, making her wince at the onslaught of foul smells.

'Sesshomaru is right, filthy human indeed,' she thought as she tensed to knock him away. A cold hard object was pressed into her ribs and she froze, feeling the first prick of fear. Nestor had gone clean over the edge.

"It's exactly what you think it is," he breathed in her face, pushing the barrel of the gun a little harder against her side.

"There are cameras in this hall," she whispered. Was it loaded? Did he have the safety on?

He grinned lopsidedly. "There _were_ cameras in this hall."

"Now Nestor, you really don't want to be doing this," she forced a sultry smile and looked at through him through her lashes. All she had to do was get the gun away from him and she could incapacitate him.

"Shut up, whore. You don't think I know what you've been up to? At least before you didn't bring them here to flaunt them in my face."

"Wha… who?"

"Your lovers. Now you're shacked up with that freak with the tattoos. And I've always been right here!" He spat and emphasized his point with a sharp jab of his gun.

She suddenly felt Sesshomaru, a whirlwind of youkai energy surging into her apartment, and she reached out to him with her own energy, trying to convey her urgency and the need for stealth. She only hoped that he, like her brother, was sensitive enough to understand it.

"I'm sorry, Nestor, I never knew," she purred, studiously ignoring her front door.

"You blow me off and brush me aside. No more, bitch."

"No more," she agreed and ducked her head in mock submission as she heard the door begin to swing open with the barest of whispers, thanking her lucky stars that she kept the hinges well oiled. Shifting slightly so that she was braced against the wall, she brushed gentle fingers over his cheek. A low growl behind him made Nestor glance backward and lessen the pressure of the gun. Charlotte slammed her forearm against the wrist holding the gun and her knee into his groin. The roar of the gun firing so close to her crashed through her head and she was only vaguely aware of Nestor twisting in agony as acid boiled out of his torso. His smoking corpse twitched next to Sesshomaru, crouched on the hallway floor with his hands clutching his ears. His eyes were screwed shut and his teeth were bared in a silent scream. If he were making any noise, Charlotte couldn't hear it.

She reeled against the wall and stumbled over to him, slumping next to him and nuzzling his cheek with her nose. A golden eye opened, bright and full of pain, and she pushed her head under his chin, wrapping an arm around his waist. His heart hammered against her, drowned out by the thunderous ringing in her head. Shaking, she clung to him, biting back the tears that threatened to spill. Finally, he relaxed slightly and ran a graceful hand over her back, holding her close before pulling them both to their feet.

"What is that?" he pointed to the shiny metal object still clutched in the dead man's hand, his voice was muffled and distant as she rubbed her ears in a futile attempt to hear better.

She swallowed stiffly, her stomach roiling at the sight of Nestor's ruined body, a melted, gaping hole in his chest. His face was contorted in a gruesome rictus of agony, eyes rolled back into their sockets.

"A g-gun… you did this?" she couldn't tear her eyes from her neighbor. She'd known him for four years, ever since she'd moved into this apartment. Sure, he proven himself a dangerous scumbag, but no one deserved to die like that.

Sesshomaru ignored her stupid question and nudged the gun with his foot. How could such a small device have created such an enormous noise and a rather large hole in the wall? He refused to contemplate what would have happened had that thing still been against the cat when it had gone off. He hadn't understood her desperation and fear when he first found them, had been angered by her flirtatious stance. Clarity had come with the blast of the gun and the acrid taste of explosive powder at the back of his throat. He had come close to losing her and it terrified him. What if Tenseiga had refused to save her as it had Kagura? How many women would slip through his fingers?

He came to a decision, deep within himself, of which his conscious mind was barely aware: her brother would return through to this time, but she would not.

"Uh, Sesshomaru?" Charlotte tugged at his empty sleeve, still staring at the corpse. "Someone will have called the police… we have to do something with the body."

He felt her trembling through the fabric of his haori. 'She isn't screaming or crying hysterically', he thought with pride. 'She's still thinking clearly.'

"It is almost sunset. We will send it through the painting," he gave her a little shove into her into the apartment. She returned almost immediately with a large sheet of black material, plastic, she called it. Once he had rolled the corpse onto its face on the plastic with his foot, she grabbed a clean corner and dragged it inside. Extending his hand over the mess left by the body, he let poison drip from his claws onto the floor, dissolving the pool of blood and several layers of flooring. With a quick kick, the gun followed Charlotte into the apartment.

"Can you use that?" he asked her as she wrapped the plastic around the body and affixed it with clear strips of sticky stuff.

She glanced at the gun with distaste, "Yeah, Charlie taught me how to shoot."

"Good. You will carry it with you."

"But-"

"You will not question my judgment, Charlotte. It is powerful and can be used against our enemies. However, you must warn me before you use it."

She opened her mouth to protest, and then closed it quickly, a warm, wondering smile lighting her pale face. "Okay, Sesshomaru." She applied the last piece of tape to her Nestor roll-up and picked up the little handgun, popping open the bullet chamber. It was almost fully loaded: five bullets were nestled in the cylindrical chamber. She snapped it shut and stuffed it down the front of her skirt. 'Sesshomaru One-Arm and Charlotte "The Cat" Beaulieu, that's us,' she thought with a wry twist to her lip.

"What about this situation amuses you?"

"Nothing. Everything. I don't know." She scrubbed a hand down her face, and pulled her computer bag onto her shoulder. "It's time to go. Ready?"

He nodded and hoisted the body over his shoulder. Pressing it to the painting, he cleared his mind, letting the painting take it to wherever it would. The black plastic roll disappeared in a flash of blue light. Charlotte stepped up to him and he twined his fingers through hers. She would lose consciousness on the other side, but he would not let her fall.

Reaching toward the painting, they had almost touched it when she gasped out, "Wait!" She wrapped her free arm around his neck and dragged his head down, pressing her lips to his in a hungry, burning kiss. His blood ignited as he tasted her, memorizing her with his tongue and teeth. Too quickly, he pulled away with a last nip of her bottom lip and touched their fingers to the moving painting.

XxxxxxxxxxX

Charlotte woke smashed against something hard and unyielding, a strong arm holding her close.

"What's wrong with her?" a gruff voice asked. She blinked several times to bring the hanyou into focus, finding the floor with her feet.

"Disgraceful, my lord, having to support such a worthless creature with your own arm," the unmistakable squawk of Jaken sounded behind her.

"Shut up, Kermit," she grumbled, shaking the last of the fog from her brain and glancing around at her surroundings. They were standing in a narrow, windowless hall lit with guttering oil lamps. The walls sweat moisture from porous stone and moss grew between the cracks. Dank and humid, the air smelled septic. Inuyasha and Miroku flanked their women, who held the kit and the firecat.

Was she the only one who passed out when traveling through the painting? How embarrassing. Sesshomaru released her and stepped away, the passion of a few minutes ago banked by his usually icy expression.

Small arms wrapped around her waist, topped by a tousled black head. "Rin!" she cried, alarmed that the little girl was there but glad to see her nonetheless. Dropping to her knees, she hugged the girl back. "What are you doing here? It'll be dangerous-"

"An accurate observation. What is the meaning of this, Jaken?" Sesshomaru turned his cold eyes on his servant, who had begun to shake and stammer.

"It's not Jaken's fault, my lord," Rin broke in. "Rin-I followed on my own," she blinked up at her lord, her accidental use of the third person showing her nervousness.

"It was a foolish thing to do, Rin."

"Yes, my lord."

The monk cleared his throat. "I see that women dress differently in your village than they do in Kagome's."

Charlotte gave him a bored stare, "No, I'm just not in high school." She adjusted the strap of her computer bag, wondering what on earth possessed her to bring it in the first place. It wasn't like they'd take a break to let her do a little work.

"Now you really do look just like your brother," Sango commented, eyeing her slightly pointed humanoid ears and normal eyes.

"Can we get on with this?" Inuyasha snapped.

"Please," Charlotte agreed. She glanced around again. "Where's Charlie?"

"He is close." Sesshomaru scented the air. The male cat had been taken through this passage recently and the trail led up the passage to the stairs at the end of the hall. "This way." Drawing Tokijin, he led the motley group toward the stairs. Charlotte pulled the gun from her skirt and cocked it, holding it carefully so that her finger didn't touch the trigger but was close enough that she could fire it quickly if necessary.

The air became drier and more palatable as they climbed the twisting staircase. Passages opened up to the side as they reached a landing after landing. Sesshomaru would stop and sniff, but each time kept leading them up. The castle seemed strangely deserted, each hall they passed empty of servant and guards. Sesshomaru scoffed silently to himself at the brazen lack of security. He would never have allowed something in his own home.

Finally, the trail led into a passage and the group gratefully left the staircase. Though no one had complained, the climb had been long and the humans were feeling it. This hall was as empty as the others and terminated at a tall wooden door. Unadorned except for a metal knob in the center, it seemed to barely contain a heavy, malicious force.

Charlotte eased her finger over the trigger of the handgun. Whatever lay beyond the door was not going to be friendly.


	17. Disaster

A/N: Lemon warning. This is the clean version of this chapter. As per Fanfiction's policy, the lemon in this chapter has been edited out. You can read the full version on Mediaminer(dot)org, reachable through the link on my profile.

Did I mention that I like angst?

FFnet: gothic-ember

Mmorg: Kaneasami, rage2velvet – thanks so much! I'm glad that you got from Charlotte the impression that I was trying to portray.

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 17 - Disaster

Sesshomaru approached the door cautiously, keen ears listening for any sign of their enemy. Charlotte's brother lay in the chamber beyond, he knew for certain, but this situation was beginning to look more and more like a trap.

He stopped abruptly, staggering back a step as he hit what felt like a solid wall, though he was still an arm's length from the door. "A barrier," he intoned.

Inuyasha drew Tetsusaiga and elbowed his brother aside. "Outta my way," he snapped as the fang-like blade turned an iridescent red. With a mighty swing, the barrier flared a deep purple, then dissolved.

"And now for that door." Snorting in satisfaction, he raised the sword again, slamming it into the floor. "Kaze no kizu!" Bolts of energy shot from Inuyasha's sword, carving paths in the stone floor and blasting into the door, blowing it off its hinges.

Charlotte stared at the shower of splinters that had once been the formidable door. "Well, so much for sneaking in and sneaking out."

The group picked its way through the rubble, weapons held at the ready, trying to peer through the thick smoke that choked the doorway and blocked their view of the room's contents. The sulfuric smell of brimstone clogged the air, burning the nostrils of the cats and humans and sending Inuyasha into sneezing fit. Sesshomaru covered his delicate nose with his sleeve, awkwardly holding his sword to the side and trying not to gag.

Warily, Charlotte extended her senses, searching for her brother's youki, but she seemed to be surrounded by cotton, muffling and bulky. For a moment, only the gun, cold and heavy in her hand, seemed to have any substance. Supporting the butt with her palm, she raised it to point into the haze, nagged by the feeling that she was forgetting something important.

Kirara growled a warning, fire flaring around her as she assumed her large form. Charlotte growled back, "I don't like it either."

A heavy swishing sound rolled through the smoke, roiling it in great clouds that surged towards them. Almost appearing to coalesce from the haze, a gaping mouth crammed with teeth lunged forward, propelled by leathery black wings.

Charlotte shrieked and pulled the trigger, bracing herself against the kickback of the gun. The bat-thing reared back, screaming as the bullet tore a large hole in its wing. Another shot and its head burst in a wet explosion, the body dropping to the floor with a heavy thud.

"I'm using the gun, Sesshomaru," she called out to the taiyoukai's hunched form. Inuyasha was cowering with his arms wrapped around his head, Tetsusaiga in its rusty form at his feet.

Sesshomaru turned red eyes on her, blazing with fury. "I said BEFORE you use it."

"Sorry, my bad," she shrugged sheepishly, shaking a little with adrenaline and shock. Three bullets left; she had better improve her aim, fast.

A rich, velvety chuckle floated out of the noisome smoke, blowing it away like a freshening wind. Lord Yukio lounged on a pile of black silk cushions near a low table crowded with trays of strange food. Most of it was meat, very raw, but Charlotte could swear that the contents of one bowl were still moving. Behind him was a larger version of her painting, though it looked more like a time-lapse movie than a painting. The tree in the foreground quaked, leaves shimmering and blossoms opening and closing. Blue sky bloomed into the pinks and oranges of sunset, faded into deep black-purple, lightened into dawn, then cycled back into daylight. Days passed in minutes, or one day repeated over again, it was impossible to tell.

Reclining next to the demon lord, Charlie stared forward with blank, heavy-lidded eyes. Other than a thin scar running across his forehead, he seemed to be unhurt. Charlotte started forward but was stopped in her tracks by Sesshomaru's terse bark.

Popping a morsel of flesh into his mouth, Yukio chewed and smiled smugly at them. "So you've figured out my little toy. How clever of you. No matter, it simply saves me the trouble of going to get you."

Inuyasha picked up Tetsusaiga and the sword flared to life. "Get who?"

Yukio dismissed him with a flick of his claws. "Why, the channeler, of course. My seer told me that an energy channeler had reappeared and that she would be in the hands of the Western Lord. I had simply to set my trap and the channeler would be mine, along with the West."

"The channelers were destroyed a century ago," Sesshomaru speared Yukio with scathing glare.

Yukio leered at Charlotte, "Not all, apparently."

Charlotte's heart hammered in her chest as she took an involuntary step backward. Destroyed? Her mother was right: even here, her power should have been kept secret. She felt the heat of Sesshomaru's eyes on her and glanced at him.

"Is this true?"

"Uh, well…"

"How dare you keep this from me."

She met his simmering gaze with a cold stare, "I had to."

"Dirty blooded vermin. I should have killed you the moment I set eyes on you." He turned and stalked away, thrusting Tokijin into his sash.

"Which is exactly why I kept it a secret," she ground out, but he had already turned his back on her in rejection. Pain lanced her heart but she smothered it with a ragged breath. She could not break down, not in front of him. Steeling herself against the emptiness that filled her, she raised her head proudly. She had no idea how much his opinion of her meant to her, but it didn't matter in the long run. She'd found Charlie, now to get him and go home.

Yukio laughed at the hurt shining in her eyes. "You see? You're better off with me. I would nurture your power, not seek to extinguish it."

"I don't think so."

"Ah, but you forget: I have your brother," he ran a hand over Charlie's golden hair, freeing it from the tie that had bound it into a ponytail. Charlie's expression didn't change, nor did he respond to the fire demon's touch.

"What's wrong with him?" she whispered, the barrel of the gun slowly lowering toward the floor.

Yukio pushed gracefully to his feet. "That is up to you." With a long claw, he touched the surface of the painting over the mansion, tearing a small hole that quickly closed up again. "Since you're here, we won't be needing the other portal. Now, my pet, go collect your sister," Yukio finished in the youkai language.

Charlie jerked to life, his listless eyes snapping to Charlotte's. Almost immediately, she felt the draw of his power on her: he absorbed, she channeled. The more she resisted, the harder he pulled.

"Charlie, stop!" she gasped, her knees weakening and her vision beginning to gray at the edges. She'd asked her mother why it was so much worse to be a channeler than an absorber. Her mother had regarded her with sad eyes, 'You can fight off an absorber's powers, and, like a sponge, an absorber can only hold so much before he is full. But a channeler can move energy until there isn't any left and there is nothing anyone can do against it.'

Charlotte's mind raced as she considered her options. She could move energy out of him until he was exhausted or she could pump him so full that it knocked him out. Neither option was good, but the latter might break whatever hold Yukio had over him.

Inuyasha glared at his half-brother, impassively watching the struggle. Heartless bastard wouldn't lift a finger to help his own lover. "Stand aside, wench," Inuyasha growled as he stomped forward, his pulsing blade brandished in front of him. "If that bastard brother of mine won't stop this, then I will."

"No!" Charlotte made her decision and opened a channel, sucking into herself the energy around her and pushing it out in a thin, piercing stream at her brother. It struck him square in the chest, knocking him backward into the cushions with a hoarse shout. Yukio danced backward, his handsome face twisted in surprise.

She opened the channel again, gathering up more energy from her companions, but instead of releasing it as pure energy, she let it keep it's own form. Bolts of acidic power cut through the stone floor, tearing toward the fire demon. Leaping high into the air, Yukio cleared the hybrid windscar-acid attack that melted his cushions and incinerated his dinner.

At the snap of Yukio's long fingers, three bat creatures dropped from the rafters and glided down on leathery black wings. Screaming, its maw craned open to display rows of razor-sharp teeth, one of the creatures dive-bombed Charlotte, who threw herself to the floor. Wheeling around for another pass, it narrowly missed getting hit by an arrow surrounded by a corona of pink energy. The other two bat creatures flew straight at the humans and the source of spiritual power that they hated.

As the battle raged in front of him, Sesshomaru barely managed to maintain his icy veneer. Immobilized by the anger, hurt, and betrayal that ripped at him, he could only stand and watch. Not even Rin's quiet entreaty could move him. How could she have kept this from him? Didn't she trust him? And now that he knew, what should he do? Channelers had been systematically hunted down and killed because the power they held over others posed too great a risk to the demon lords. He had personally dispatched several at his father's request. But he knew that he couldn't kill her. Maybe once he would have been able to still her heart, see her bright green eyes fade and glaze over, but that time had passed.

Yukio lunged at her as she picked herself up off the floor, fire flaring at his fingertips, and Sesshomaru's body jerked in an instinctual urge to protect her. He fought it back, even as he felt his own youkai energy being pulled from his body to flow from hers, striking Yukio a glancing blow, his shoulder sizzling and smoking. Powerful but untrained, she fought well, but Yukio held the advantage.

"Hiraikotsu!" A bat creature exploded into dust as the enormous bone boomerang hit it broadside. Catching her boomerang with an expert twist of her wrist, Sango had fleeting moment of satisfaction before another creature swooped down at her. With a wracking cough, it spat a row of teeth at her. Lifting the boomerang as a shield, she braced herself as the teeth imbedded in the polished bone, hissing as they dissolved into a poisonous miasma.

She yanked her mask over her face as she shouted a warning to the others. "Watch out! Their teeth are poisonous!"

Miroku paled and quickly wrapped the prayer beads around his cursed hand, sealing the wind tunnel before he could draw in any of the noxious fumes or teeth. "Thank you, Sango!"

Inuyasha only grunted and released the windscar, crisping a bat in mid-flight. "Useless humans."

Groaning, Charlie shook his head and sat up, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles. He felt like he'd just been woken from a heavy sleep, wasn't even sure if he was actually awake. His brain was having trouble with the melee unfolding around him. Charlotte and a man with a red ponytail were brawling in front of him, and her love interest stood near the back of the room, staring at nothing as a little girl and a toad cowered at his feet. The strange group of people he had met after coming through the painting was fending off two monsters that vaguely resembled pterodactyls. 'Now there's a hot little tamale, showing off her goods with a skin-tight body suit. Packs a good punch, though," he remembered with a wince the blow he'd received for hitting on her.

A flaming pink arrow whizzed by his head and rebounded off the stone wall. He stared open-mouthed at the girl who had shot it. She shouted something at him, then grinned and shrugged apologetically.

"Charlotte, what the fuck is going on?" he hollered as he staggered to his feet and walked unsteadily to the group of humans, wincing as his sister was knocked to the ground by a swift kick from the ponytail guy.

"We're rescuing you!" she shouted back, rolling to the side and firing a small handgun. The bullet went wide but all of the demons in the room cringed. Bringing the gun to shoulder level, she fired the second to last bullet, hitting the fire demon at his right shoulder joint and blowing off his arm in a shower of hot blood. He collapsed to the floor, clutching at his shoulder and moaning.

"Shit, Charlotte, your aim sucks. And what are you doing without earplugs?"

'I knew I was forgetting something. That's why it didn't hurt so much before.' Charlotte used Yukio's temporary preoccupation with his ringing ears and missing limb to scramble to her feet and away from the fire demon. She hurried toward the humans, plugging another bat creature in the belly as it dove at Kagome, spraying them all with steaming entrails. Gurgling as hit the stone floor, it shuddered once and lay still.

"At least you didn't miss that time," Charlie said as he eyed the nightmarish monster on the ground.

Charlotte frowned and planted her hands on her hips, still holding the gun in one of them. "Shut it. No one asked you."

"Are you okay?" Kagome asked the tall, blonde man in heavily accented English.

"Sure am, doll," he grinned at her, raising an eyebrow suggestively. "Wanna check me out? See for yourself?"

"She's barely legal, you perverted tomcat," Charlotte rolled her eyes in disgust and glanced at Yukio, who was still lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood. He wasn't moving anymore but she was sure he wasn't dead. "We need to go. I think we can use this painting like we did the other one."

"Don't I have time for a little fun first?" He'd sidled up to Sango and now gave her bottom a sharp smack. Sango, who hadn't understood the words but more than understood the intent, rewarded him with an elbow in his solar plexus.

"Not very bright, is he?" Sango commented to his mortified sister.

"Not when he thinks with his little head."

"That's not fair," Charlie wheezed in the youkai language, clutching his stomach. "You got to screw your Frigidaire."

Ignoring Inuyasha's strangled gasp, Charlotte stole a glance at Sesshomaru, who was still standing motionless and silent, staring at the floor. Though he must have sensed her gaze, he made no sign. Her heart ached and tears pricked at the backs of her eyes as sadness coiled inside her stomach. She'd know it wouldn't last, but she would never have thought that they'd part like this. Rin, standing close to her lord, gave her a mournful look and a small wave. Charlotte forced a weak smile and waved back. She'd really liked Rin, had cherished the time they'd spent together and regretted not being able to tell her what a lovely young lady she was.

Sighing, she turned back to the group. "Thanks, you guys. Couldn't have done it without you."

"Take care of yourselves," Kagome said, sympathy shining in her soulful brown eyes. Sango nodded, but shot Charlie a dark look.

Miroku also nodded, stiffly but piously. "Go with the blessings of Buddha." Inuyasha just looked traumatized as Shippo patted him gently on the head.

'Must be a virgin, to have smelled sex and not recognized it,' Charlotte thought. She supposed she ought to be grateful that the humans didn't understand Charlie's comment, but just couldn't muster it through the hole where her heart should have been.

"We will. You too." She grabbed her wheezing brother's arm, guiding him around Yukio's still form and toward the painting.

'She's leaving,' Sesshomaru's youkai whispered to him, stirring restlessly. He pushed the thought away, forcing himself to stare at the floor instead of watch her. If he looked at her, he wouldn't be able to let her go. He felt her eyes boring into his back, could almost taste her sorrow, but refused to meet her eyes. He shut out the sound of her voice, saying goodbye to those miserable humans that his brother called friends. He turned to Rin, whose chin was starting to quiver. He didn't want the girl to watch another loved one leave. "Jaken, take Rin from the tower and meet me outside the gates."

"Yes, my lord," the imp squawked. "Come, Rin." He marched her out of the chamber, grumbling to himself.

'She's leaving,' the voice was louder, more insistent. She was moving now, toward the painting and the last portal to her world. His youkai railed inside him, furious at being muzzled and chained down. Despite his firm control, his eyes were being dragged up. 'She's mine and she's LEAVING!'

Eyes bleeding red, face elongating to reflect the beast that had taken over, his eyes locked onto her as Yukio's remaining hand shot out and curled around her ankle. "MINE!" With a roar, he sprang forward as she fell on her stomach, pushing her brother toward the painting.

"Go home!" she shouted at him. "I'll follow in a second!"

Charlie spun around, ready to defend her from the demon on the floor, but Sesshomaru was almost on him. Charlie nodded, sure that the dog demon was coming to her aide, and lunged toward the painting with an outstretched hand.

Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief as he disappeared in flash of blue light. Now that he was safely gone, Charlotte unleashed the floodgate of power that filled the room, letting it fill her then burst out in a torrent of destructive energy through the leg that Yukio held in his hot claws. Shrieks pierced the air but the hand tightened, digging claws into her skin and crushing muscle against bone. Panicking, she sucked up all the energy around her, then blasted him again with everything she had, youkai energy flying wild in her haste to get away. A blinding light lit up the room as screams echoed off the walls and faded away. The hand at her ankle was gone.

Blinking as her eyes readjusted to the relative darkness of the room, Charlotte sat up. Greasy ashes were all that were left of Lord Yukio and near him, Sesshomaru lay in a crumpled heap.

"Oh no," she gasped, crawling toward him. How had he gotten there? Why wasn't he on the other side of the room, where he'd been the entire fight? She gently touched his face with her fingertips, flinching at the clamminess of his skin. Though he seemed to be sleeping, his breath was shallow and his pulse thready. He was lucky that he hadn't been cremated like Yukio. She pulled his head on her lap, brushing damp bangs from his face.

"Umm, Charlotte," Kagome knelt in front of her, her face strained with concern.

"I did this," she moaned as her hands began to shake.

"Charlotte, the painting…"

Glancing over her shoulder, Charlotte saw what had the teenager so worried. What had once been a vibrant, beautiful moving picture was now blank, as if paint had never touched its surface. Stunned, Charlotte sat there, the unconscious head of her man resting on her thighs, her only way home closed forever.

Keening deep in her throat, Charlotte began to sway back and forth, wringing her hands and glancing between Sesshomaru's rumpled form and the ruined painting. Her twin was gone, beyond her reach, and she could only hope that the painting had taken him home. Her own life was just as unreachable, her apartment, job, friends, and all the creature comforts with which she surrounded herself. Gone.

Kagome settled a hand on her shoulder, her peaceful aura calming the hysteria that was building inside her. Taking a shuddering breath, Charlotte patted Kagome's hand in thanks.

"Do you really think he'll try to kill me?" she asked, staring down at Sesshomaru's pale face.

Inuyasha stomped over as he sheathed his sword. "He ain't known for being a cold-hearted bastard for nothing."

"Is that a yes?" she didn't want to believe it, but Sesshomaru had all but said it himself. And now that she had turned her despised power against him, however inadvertently, she had probably sealed her fate. "But I can't just leave him here."

"Why not?"

"Because… what if there are other demons in this tower? They'll kill him! He's close to dying now."

"I don't got any objections."

"What am I going to do?" her voice almost a whisper. She was trapped here and not even able to stay with Sesshomaru.

"You'll come with us," Kagome said decisively. "Maybe the Bone Eater's Well will let you through. If not, well, we'll figure it out when we get there."

Charlotte sighed heavily, not daring to hope that the well would accept her as she caressed the maroon stripes on Sesshomaru's cheek. "He doesn't know that I didn't go home. I'll get him out of the tower and leave him where Jaken and Rin can find him."

"What if he wakes up?" Sango asked from over her shoulder.

"He won't, not for a while."

"Take Kirara. She'll help you get him out of the here without being seen by Sesshomaru's servant and bring you back to us when you're done."

Charlotte nodded, gathering up his long body in her arms as Kirara sauntered to over to her. Clambering awkwardly onto her back, for Sesshomaru was every bit as heavy as he looked, Charlotte spared a last glance at the clean canvas that had so drastically altered her life. She couldn't help the tear that escaped her eye to roll down her face and fall into Sesshomaru's silver hair. "Goodbye, Charlie."

XxxxxxxxxxX

Kirara glided down through the forest canopy, landing softly on the ground, thick with ferns and creepers that gleamed with tiny drops of dew. Gray trunks were widely spaced and had few lower limbs, saving their energy to reach high into the sky to spread wide green leaves to the sunlight. Though morning, the branches above were so numerous that the light was still dim and murky.

Charlotte slipped off of the firecat's back, still holding Sesshomaru closely to her. He hadn't stirred during the entire flight and his condition seemed the same. They had successfully out-maneuvered Jaken and Rin, though it had been a close thing for a moment when they'd heard his grating voice chastising Rin for dawdling. The rest of the tower had been deserted and when they had finally found their way out, she had realized that it was exactly that – a tower, carved out of a high cliff rising out of this dense, overgrown forest. It certainly wasn't his mansion; just a little hideaway for doing dastardly deeds.

Despite what she'd told the others, she couldn't leave him here, defenseless in the woods. His grasp on life was too weak. Even if she could never see him again, she would feel better knowing that he was alive and well.

Propping his back against the rough bark of a tree, she straightened his legs and arranged his arm by his side so that he looked fairly comfortable. Straddling his legs, she ran her fingers through his hair, savoring the sensation of the silky strands on her skin. She kissed him lightly on the forehead, both eyelids, and on his cold lips. Finally, she rested her cheek against his, breathing in his scent and committing it to memory.

After one last deep breath, she was ready. She didn't know if what she was going to do would work or if she could even do it right. Her mother had only done it that one time when she'd lost her paw, and Charlotte had never done it, but she had to try, despite any possible consequences. It was her fault he was like this; so helpless and frail. She would do her best to fix it.

She stripped him of his armor, laying it carefully to the side. Pulling apart his outer and inner haori, she bared his smooth chest to his waist. Closing her eyes against the stirring in her loins, she placed both hands on his chest, concentrating on his youkai. Faint and feeble, it was buried deep inside of him. Extending her own youkai into him, she brushed against it, teasing it out of hiding, and then gently tugged it toward her. Again and again, she reached into him and pulled on his beast until it began to respond and they found a rhythm where both youkai traveled through both bodies at the same time. Pulsing through them on a circuit, she let his youkai take the energy it needed to restore his body. She wasn't healing him, she was simply encouraging him to heal himself.

She relaxed against his chest, letting the channel take care of itself as her body tingled with the warmth that was now radiating from his skin. Distantly, she knew that she should stop, that he'd be okay now, but it felt too good to touch him, to smell him, to feel his youkai in and around her.

Suddenly, he bucked under her, almost dislodging her hands from his chest. His body jerked again and he barked hoarsely in pain. Alert again, Charlotte strengthened the channel and pressed his struggling form against the tree with firm hands. He was healing something uncomfortable and she couldn't let him break the channel until he was restored.

His youkai surged into her, echoing the roar that ripped from his lips, protesting her perceived dominance. A strong hand wrapped around her upper arm, its grip tightening as she sped up the pulsing of the channel, fighting against his beast's attempts to subdue her and stop the pain. His eyes snapped open, fully red and holding nothing of the icy control he usually maintained. She was looking into the eyes of his youkai, angry, hurting, and driven by ancient instinct. Face slightly elongated, he snarled at her with sharply pointed teeth.

Another spasm wracked his body and he broke eye contact to howl in torment, then crush her against him and bite down into the junction of her neck and shoulder. She screamed as fire flared in her neck and blood began to flow down her blouse and between her breasts. Howling with triumph now, he rolled them away from the tree and pinned her to the ground, his teeth still buried in her neck. Still, she kept the circuit moving, pushing and pulling at the struggling energies, knowing that whatever was healing was almost done.

He pressed his body against her, hard and lean, tense as a taught wire, demanding her submission. She ground her hips against him, trying to assuage the tightening in her core as he lapped the blood from her neck with long strokes of his tongue. Digging blunt, human nails into the flesh of his chest, she writhed as he bit her again in a soft spot under her collarbone. He growled deep in his throat as the scent of her arousal hit his nostrils. Never had his youkai been given such free reign and despite the pain he was in, he intended to make the most of it.

The channel broke and she went limp, shocked by the void left by his youkai, now in full control of his body. Claws grazed up her thigh, pushing her skirt around her waist and brushing against her cotton panties. Tremors ran through her as his claws cut through the fabric and combed through her curls, but through the haze of lust that crept through her mind, she was confused. Something was different about this…

Sesshomaru's youkai barked in approval. Finally, the female had stopped the pain and submitted to him. With a last lick of her blood, he crawled down her body to where her scent was the strongest.

OoooooooooooO

Expended and pleased, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against him, curling up in the soft undergrowth. Within moments, he was breathing slowly, sound asleep.

Charlotte gently freed herself from the cocoon of his limbs, only now realizing why the channeling had been so painful and what had been different about their coupling. His arm had re-grown, good as new. Around where his arm had been cut off was a thick scar, deep red, almost purple, and heavily bruised.

With the largest piece of her panties she could find and a little water from a nearby creek, she cleaned him up as best as she could and dressed them both. He slept through it all, not even stirring when she lugged him to a tree, positioning him against it as she had before.

His youkai had been in complete control earlier and he probably wouldn't remember much, if anything, of what they had just done. He should have no doubt that his brother's group had left him here, unconscious but otherwise unhurt. There wouldn't be any reason for him to suspect that she hadn't followed Charlie into the painting. Yes, her scent was all over him, but that would be expected. She would have Kirara roll on the ground around them, obscuring her scent from forest floor. The arm would certainly raise a few questions, but no one could connect that with her.

Sighing bitterly, she knelt next to him, gazing at his tranquil expression. Not impassive, nor cold, just… calm, content even. The breeze fluttered his bangs and she smoothed them away from his face, brushing the moon crest on his forehead.

"Rest easy. Rin and Jaken will be here soon. I…" she bit her lip against the words. They were useless at this point: he was not awake to hear them. With a last caress of his cheek, she stood, back straight and head held high, and called Kirara to her.


	18. Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

A/N: Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing. I really do appreciate it.

FFnet: Gothic-Ember: oh, wow. Thank you! Agent-doo, Neisha, kagomemikogoddess

Mmorg: Chiaztolite – Thanks! Sesshomaru is a tough one to keep in character.

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 18 – Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

"My lord?" a soft, tentative voice reached him through the fog of sleep, but it was the wrong voice, the wrong words. Disoriented, Sesshomaru struggled with the last cobwebs of a dream that clung to his mind. '_Rest easy. Rin and Jaken will be here soon. I…' _He wanted to stay asleep and reach for her, catch the hand that caressed his face, make her finish what she had been about to say.

"My lord Sesshomaru?" Why was Rin in his bedchamber? She sounded worried…

"Quiet, Rin. You're disturbing him," Jaken snapped harshly.

'It's the other way around,' Sesshomaru thought irritably and opened his eyes in the gloom that permeated the overgrown jungle in which he lay. Glancing around and flaring his nostrils, he took in the tall, gray trees with their fingerlike branches stretching into the thick canopy above. Rich, damp earth and the heady perfume of jasmine hung in the air. Delicately pointed ears caught the slightest of sounds made by the forest's inhabitants: the low drone of insects, the hiss of reptilian skin against bark, a small rustle as a rodent dove down a burrow.

Except for Rin and Jaken, he was alone here. Where was his brother's group? Where was Charlotte? He could smell the two-tail; her scent was all over the forest floor and his clothes, as was Charlotte's, but of his brother's group, he could smell nothing.

Dappled in faint afternoon sunlight, Rin sat on her knees in front of him in the viney undergrowth, staring solemnly at her hands. Jaken was puffing up his chest, a sure sign of a rant to come, and Sesshomaru decided to nip it in the bud.

"Jaken, what happened at the tower?"

Deflating like a balloon, Jaken glanced at him with wide eyes. "My lord, you're awake! We were so worried!"

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I led Rin safely from the fight and out of the tower, just like you commanded me. We waited for you for several hours, then decided to come look for you."

"Where are the others?"

"I don't know, my lord. You were alone when we found you. We did see that two-tail of theirs flying high over the trees, but the rest have shown neither hide nor hair since we escaped."

So they had the firecat drop him off before they left. But why had he been unconscious in the first place? Thinking back to the battle in the tower, he replayed the scene in his mind. Charlotte and her brother had been about to go through the painting when Yukio had attacked her and he had lost control. Charlie had vanished into the blue light as Sesshomaru had torn into the fire youkai's back, and then a searing pain had ripped through him, igniting nerves endings and boiling his insides. Dimly, he had been aware of screaming, of Yukio's dying shriek as he was reduced to ashes, then nothing but darkness.

So it was over. Yukio and his ill-fated plot had been destroyed and the cats had gone home to their infernal city. Safely back in its cage, his youkai howled in his head, despondent cries filling him to overflowing and it was all he could do to maintain his impassive mask and not throw his head back in a howl of his own. He'd been too late, too slow, and true to her word, she'd left.

Then again, maybe it was better that she had left; channeling was forbidden and the ability to do so meant certain death. But did it really have to? He was angrier that she didn't tell him, not that she could do it. He could have kept her safe; no one in the Western Lands would have dared question him, even about that.

"My lord?" Rin gazed up at him, deep brown eyes sad.

"Yes, Rin."

"Did Kitty go home for good this time?"

"Yes, Rin." She nodded, twisting her hands in her lap.

"And good riddance," Jaken huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "She was insolent, rude, vulgar: hardly a lady. Not to mention that she was a mix-breed channeler that should have been drowned at birth."

"That's enough, Jaken," he growled, his veneer beginning to crack at the edges. The imp was right on all points, but she also had been vibrant, passionate, and beautiful. A channeler, maybe, but _his_ in a way he'd never though of a female before. And he had rejected her, threatened to kill her, refused to protect her from Yukio. For one of the first times in his life, he found himself regretting his actions.

"What now, my lord?" Rin asked quietly.

Sesshomaru pushed off the trunk against which he was leaning and rolled gracefully to his feet. With Yukio dead, a new Southern Lord would be needed. As far as he knew, Yukio had not left a male heir, which gave him the opportunity to seize the South, adding to his already large holdings. Without answering the young girl, he summoned his demon cloud and gestured for her to climb on. Her strangled gasp and wide eyes gave him pause.

"What is it, Rin?"

"My lord, your arm…"

Running his claws through his hair to dislodge the leaves and bits of bark that tangled into it, he gave his right arm a cursory glance, but it seemed to be okay.

"Oh my!" Jaken gazed up at him with bright, watering eyes. "You're whole again! Not that I'm saying you weren't whole before, even though you were missing you left arm. But it was a crippling injury that your brother gave you. Not that you're a cripple! Ohhh!"

Tuning him out as the imp dug himself deeper into a hole, Sesshomaru realized that he had been inspecting his right hand while combing his hair with his left. Pulling it free of his silver mane, he brought it in front of his face. It was his left hand, certainly, the maroon stripes twining over his wrist and up the back of his hand. Fascinated, he pulled up his sleeve to reveal where it had regenerated, leaving only an ugly scar where the severance had been.

Rin clapped her hands and bounced a little, a sunny grin lighting her face. "How did it happen?"

Sesshomaru gave his arm an experimental bend, and then flexed his claws. Cracking noisily, the tips began to ooze with poison. Everything seemed to be in working order, though he had no idea how it had regenerated so quickly, not that he would admit that aloud. He had expected to wait a century before the arm grew back and was usable again. Would his wretched half-brother know? Did he really want to ask?

He didn't. The only reason he had been with his brother's group was to help the cat, and she had left him. Now, there was work to be done. He'd lost his woman but would gain the Southern Lands. For some reason, it gave him little consolation.

XxxxxxxxxxxX

Charlotte sat cross-legged in the grass staring into the flames of the campfire and fingering her ears for the umpteenth time since leaving Sesshomaru in Yukio's forest. It had been a week now, but felt like an eternity. Stoic he may have been, but she yearned for him with an aching that took her breath away. He filled her dreams to the point that she couldn't sleep well. She'd jerk awake, bathed in sweat and burning with the feeling of his claws on her skin, or almost crying out loud as he turned his back on her: _"Dirty blooded vermin. I should have killed you the moment I set eyes on you." _

Tired and listless, she hadn't even had the energy to come up with suitably scathing responses to Inuyasha's teasing about her "pining for that black-hearted bastard". Of course, that was after he had gotten over the smell of his brother all over her. He'd avoided her the entire day that she'd joined them with Kirara, casting suspicious glances at her as he sniffed in her direction. Whether or not he actually knew what they had been up to, Charlotte did not care.

Charlie's absence also left a void in her soul. Though they had lived hundreds of miles apart, she could always reach him by phone or email. Now that he was unreachable, she felt like a part of her was missing. Would she ever see him again? Would the well take her back to modern Japan or would she have to wait out the centuries?

She gave the now prominent point of her ear a firm tug. She hadn't been able to take her normal form since that night, and now had these long, pointed ears and permanently slitted pupils. So on top of a broken heart (she had to admit it to herself, even if she wouldn't admit it to the others), her body wasn't working right.

Tomorrow, they should reach the Bone Eater's Well. Kagome had been very upbeat, assuring her that there was a very good chance that the well would accept her since she wasn't from this time, but Charlotte could hear the doubt in her voice and did not share her enthusiasm. She felt cosmically fucked, and had a creeping feeling that the worse was yet to come.

"Eat something, will ya?" Inuyasha shoved a skewered squirrel at her, waiting until she took it before he stomped back over to his seat next to Kagome.

Sango swallowed a mouthful of squirrel and glared daggers at the hanyou. "Lay off, she misses her brother."

"Keh."

Charlotte chose not to comment. Yes, she missed her brother but she missed Sesshomaru just as much, or more, especially knowing that he was relatively close but just as inaccessible. Worrying a piece of flesh from the scrawny squirrel that was entirely too cooked for her taste, she tried to look like she was enjoying it. Later, when no one was looking, she'd give the rest to Kirara.

Surreptitiously setting aside the squirrel kabob, she unzipped the computer bag that Kagome had managed to save for her and pulled out the computer. Strange how her laptop, which had once been an unpleasant reminder of work, was now the thing that gave her the most comfort. Despite the fact that she may not see her home for another five hundred years, she'd done some work on the project her boss had given her. Her battery was almost dead, but it had enough juice for her to record a few thoughts that had occurred to her while they had been traveling.

"Um, Charlotte?" Kagome's timid question broke her train of thought and she squinted up at the girl.

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering… would you mind helping me with my math homework? I'll probably have a make-up exam tomorrow and I have to pass it."

"Sure! I'd love to," Charlotte grinned suddenly and snapped closed the computer, sliding it back into her bag. Finally, here was a chance to feel useful, to help these people who had taken her in as one of their own.

XxxxxxxxxxxX

"So this is it?" Charlotte peered into the darkness at the bottom of the well. It wasn't impressive, could have passed for an ordinary dry well.

Kagome nodded and hefted her yellow backpack onto her shoulder. Inuyasha snorted and grabbed the strap, yanking it off and onto his own back. "The time slip opens before you hit the bottom, if it's going to open at all." Uncertainty crept into her voice as she joined Charlotte at the edge of the well and perched on the short wooden wall.

"And if I don't get through, you'll mail that letter to Charlie?"

"Right, and I'll charge your laptop battery once I find an adapter." Conveniently enough, their time periods in the modern world were only a few months off, Charlotte's being a little earlier than Kagome's. In the event that Charlotte was trapped in the feudal era, she had written a letter to her brother explaining the situation and Kagome had promised to send it when the time came.

"Thank you."

Grinning, Kagome bobbed a quick bow from her seat on the well. "It's the least I can do, considering that I'll ace that math test!"

"Are you gonna yap all day or what?" Inuyasha griped and snatched Charlotte's computer bag from her, lifting the strap over his head so that it lay across his chest, and then slipped an arm around Kagome's waist.

Kagome rolled her eyes but grinned anyway, "I'm ready, dog-boy. Don't rush me. Are you sure you don't want to go first, Charlotte?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. If I don't show up after you, don't worry about it." She tried a reassuring smile, but it came out more like a grimace.

Inuyasha grunted and launched into the air, Kagome held firmly to his side, and dropped down the well. Moments later, light glimmered from the bottom of the well, then vanished, taking the hanyou and human with it.

Charlotte sighed heavily, her heart pounding in her chest. She hadn't been this nervous about something since her college speech class, where each speech had left her jittery and drained. 'Relax, it will work or it won't. There isn't anything you can do about it.'

"Right, that didn't look so hard," Charlotte perched on the lip of the well as Kagome had done, staring down at the darkness between her feet. Glancing back at Miroku and Sango, she saw them give her encouraging nods. Kirara, in her tiny kitten form, mewed. She waved, her goodbyes already spoken, and pushed off the edge.

XxxxxxxxxxxX

Mamoru shifted his massive bulk from his left foot to his right, trying to gauge his lord's reaction to the news. As Lord Sesshomaru's oldest general, he had taken on the task because the others were intimidated by the lord's cold wrath. He, on the other hand, had first been his father's general, when Sesshomaru had been a whelp at his nurse's skirts. However, he had been acting strangely this last week and Mamoru just didn't know what to expect.

Steepling his clawed fingers, Sesshomaru stared at the scroll in front of him. "A daughter." Now that he thought about it, he did remember that Yukio had a child. It had been quite a blow for the lord, his mate producing a daughter then dying soon after. He must have never re-mated. Perhaps he had wanted the cat for a dual purpose. His youkai seethed within him, but nothing was reflected on his impassive face,

"Yes, my lord. Lord Yukio's only child, and only living relative. Mating her would secure the Southern Lands without a fight."

Silence stretched for several minutes, and Mamoru shifted onto his left foot. When it was obvious that his lord was not going to say anything, he sighed inwardly. He had really hoped that his lord would sire pups on that concubine he'd brought home, but she'd disappeared. Lady Leiko was his next best hope of heirs to the Western Lands. Hoping to incite a little interest, he offered up another bit of information. "If you don't mate her, any minor lord could usurp the Southern Lands. They are in chaos now, and need a strong leader. Lord Yukio's murderer may even make a bid for the Southern Lands."

"Unlikely."

"So you do know who killed him?"

Silence again, and Mamoru crossed his arms over his barrel-shaped chest. He had a strong suspicion that his Lord knew much more than he had been willing to share. Rumor was that a band of powerful demons had broken into Lord Yukio's private lair, reducing the lord and his tower to rubble. Lord Sesshomaru had discredited some of the theory, saying that the lord was dead but his tower still stood. However, he had shed no more light on the event, nor on the reason why his arm had regenerated overnight instead of the century it should have taken. "Shall I order the documents drawn up for your mating?"

Irritated, Sesshomaru tapped his fingers together. He did not want to mate this Leiko woman. However, he understood the need for heirs and this would be an expedient way to take over the Southern Lands.

Could he even perform his duties as mate? He'd accosted one of his staff in desperation, trying to chase the cat out of his thoughts. A female was a female, he'd told himself, but had hardly been able to kiss her. The scent was wrong, the demur cast of her eyes was wrong, the feel of her body under his hands was wrong. Finally, his youkai had rebelled and he'd thrust her away from him, storming back to his private chambers and ignoring her yelp as she hit the floor.

However, he _was_ Tai-youkai and he had certain obligations to fulfill, including begetting heirs. He'd be damned if his half-brother were to inherit the title and territory.

"Order it. This Sesshomaru will mate Lady Leiko of the Southern Lands."

XxxxxxxxxX

Charlotte landed on her feet on the floor of the well. No light. Well, maybe it would take a second to open. She stood perfectly still, holding her breath as she waited for something, anything, to happen. A shadow passed over the sunlight streaming into the well and Sango's voice called down to her.

"Charlotte? Are you there?"

She screwed her eyes shut against the tears that threatened to fall. Despite her best efforts to not get her hopes up, she was crushed. Everything she had known, worked for, cared about was gone, wouldn't exist for five hundred years. What had she done to deserve this? Where had she gone wrong? Try as she might, she could not find a reason her current predicament. It had been an accident, her powers going out of control and destroying Yukio's painting. When she was certain that her voice would remain steady, she morosely answered the taijiya, "Yeah."

She sat on the cool earth floor, cross-legged with her head propped in her hands. 'Now what?' she thought to herself as she stared at the dirt wall cluttered with roots and insects. Her beast growled in her mind, 'Just give up? Wait for someone to figure out what you can do and destroy you?'

Shaking her head, she brushed away a tear that had managed to slide down her cheek. 'No, but…'

'Pussy cat, learn to use your ability!'

'And then what?'

'We'll make a home for ourselves.'

Charlotte sat quietly, processing what her beast had just told her. That had been the weirdest conversation she'd had with it yet. For the most of her life it had been quiet, offering advice or insults on the odd occasion, but since she'd met Sesshomaru it had gotten quite vocal. Now it was making decisions for her?

"Hentai!" Sango's voice echoed off the well's walls, followed by a sharp slap.

And it wasn't like she was completely alone. Her new friends had accepted her, mix blood, channeling and all. Train up and find a home. Well, it would give her something to do. Pushing to her feet and wiping away any moisture from her face that would betray her, she leapt into the air and out of the well.

Sango, dressed in a traveling kimono and seemingly quiet harmless with her hair down, stood next to Miroku, who was rubbing the side of his face and looking quite put out.

"I'm so sorry," Sango said, trying not to notice the tell-tail smudge of dirt on the cat's chin.

Miroku nodded. "If you need anything, a shoulder to cry on, a comforting arm, a warm bed at night…"

"Uhhh, thanks but I'll be okay." Charlotte was keenly aware of the taijiya fuming next to her.

"The offer is always open if you change your mind."

"Can it, monk. She already said no."

'Stupid ass,' Charlotte thought fondly. 'If he'd put some of that effort into wooing the Sango, maybe he'd get laid.' Breaking the uncomfortable silence, she turned to the demon slayer. "You said there was a good place to bathe around here?"

Perking up, Sango nodded. "There's a hot spring not too far from here. Very secluded and _private_," she glared daggers at the monk who was moving to follow. He stopped, almost wincing in reflex. With a satisfied toss of her head, Sango led the way.

XxxxxxxxX

Lady Leiko arrived with all of the pomp and circumstance required for the mating of a Lord and Lady, though the event was solemn and subdued. She'd waited as long as she could to reply to his summons, sending back her acquiescence weeks after the missive had arrived. Waiting for a better offer, many guessed, but apparently she hadn't received one.

Dressed in a black kimono and red obi, her long red hair loose and flowing down her back, she glided through the main hall with tiny steps, her hands clasped in front of her and her eyes on the floor, her pretty face strained with fear. Two of Yukio's former generals flanked her and an entourage of ladies in waiting trailed behind.

Sesshomaru stepped from the dais and inclined his head, nothing on his face showing the disgust he held for this woman. It wasn't the Lady's fault that he didn't like her; normally he wouldn't have cared one way or the other. No, it was his youkai that despised her, finding fault in everything from her almost smoky scent to the fiery color of her hair. The officiator spoke, declaring the mateship to his court to resounding applause, but Sesshomaru barely heard the words over the protesting of his youkai.

The officiator stepped between them, taking their hands and bringing them together. Leiko kept her eyes on the floor, Sesshomaru stared over her should and into space. Her skin was hot and repulsive against his, but he kept his hand steady, as did she, though he could feel her discomfort.

Had his father felt like this when presented with his own mate? Or had he gladly accepted her, only learning later that they were not compatible? For years, Sesshomaru had worried about succumbing to his father's curse and falling for a human. Perhaps he should have learned from his father's first mistake instead and taken a mate for whom he cared.


	19. Bad News and More Bad News

A/N: Adult themes in this chapter. Thanks for reading; you guys are wonderful!

FFnet: Neisha, Tora Delerium – funny you should mention that… ;) Gothic-Ember – oh, that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, Agent-doo

Mmorg: Chiaztolite

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 19 – Bad News… and More Bad News

Charlotte sat on the floor of Kaede's cozy little hut, fidgeting as she tried to come up with the best way to ask her question.

The moon had been full the previous night and she hadn't changed into her beast form. She'd left the village before sundown, thanking whatever gods were listening that that they had returned from a shard hunt so that Kagome could take another exam. She certainly could have managed her transformation while on the road, but they would have insisted that she stay close to camp. She'd told them about her nights when she had seen Inuyasha change to his human form. The knowledge that she, too, had to transform once a month seemed to make him feel a little better about his own transformation.

The energy had raced over her skin as she stood naked in the little clearing, raising gooseflesh but no fur. Her beast hadn't even put up a fuss, as though it knew something she didn't. She'd stood in that clearing for an hour, waiting for her transformation and watching the moon ride higher in the sky. Finally, she'd dressed in the pale green kimono her new friends had gotten for her to replace her skirt and sweater, whispering a thanks to Kagome for the modern undergarments she'd brought back from her time; feudal panties were hardly fit to wear. With a bemused shrug and a last glance at the fat moon, obviously full, she had wandered the forest until dawn, trying to make sense of it all.

Still unable to change to her normal form, she'd thought for sure that the full moon would break whatever was preventing it. She knew the others were curious about her lack of cat ears, but she hadn't let on that anything was amiss. She didn't feel different, could still use her channeling power, but her shape was locked.

"What ails ye, child?" Kaede asked as she ground dried herbs into powder with a stone mortar and pestle. The old priestess had reserved judgment on the nekoyoukai who had recently joined Inuyasha's group. A creature from Kagome's time but another place, Charlotte was loud, vulgar, had few feminine manners, and had been Sesshomaru's lover, though no one knew how far it had gone. All of that aside, she seemed decent enough. Kaede really didn't know what to make of her.

"I'm not a child, you know. I turned thirty last month."

"Whatever ye say, though I doubt ye came to see me to discuss age."

Charlotte sighed and cocked her head, trying to hear if anyone around. Satisfied that no one was within earshot, she said, "So you're like a doctor, right?"

"Aye, but surely different than the ones in your time."

"I've never been to a doctor before. My health plan was to not get sick." Kaede blinked at her, still grinding at the herbs. "It was a joke. Never mind. And you'll keep everything in confidence?"

"Of course, child."

Charlotte let it pass. "Okay. So, there's something wrong with me. I can't change form; I've never looked like this until a few weeks ago." She gestured to her pointed demon ears.

"And what happened a few weeks ago?"

"Uhhh, you know, the thing with Yukio…"

Kaede did know; Kagome had described the rescue to her when she'd come back to the village, but now Kaede wondered what Kagome _didn't_ know. "Could anything that occurred have affected ye physically?"

"Like what, exactly?"

Setting aside the herbs, Kaede gestured for the demon to come closer. She did, crawling forward on her hands and knees, and then settling on her haunches, giving the old woman a shiver as she was distinctly reminded of a large cat. Slitted green eyes gazed at the miko anxiously as she placed a hand on the youkai's forehead and abdomen.

"Ye must relax and allow me to do this. If ye resist, harm could come to us both." Charlotte nodded and closed her eyes, dropping the defenses she had acquired in the recent weeks as she had begun to learn how to use her powers. The miko grunted approvingly and let her own spiritual power wash over the demon.

Charlotte shivered as Kaede's miko energy flowed through her, resisting the urge to channel it out of her. It was an unwelcome energy, one that she wouldn't be able to control and could easily harm her. After a moment, Kaede pulled away and gave the cat a stern look. "Ye can open your eyes now, child. Tell me, did ye bed Lord Sesshomaru?"

Breathing a sigh of relief, Charlotte's brow furrowed, "Yeah, but…"

"Anyone else?"

"No, not recently, but…"

"Do ye love him?"

"I don't see how that has anything to do with me not being able to change. Did you learn something or are you just being nosy?"

Kaede pursed her lips, wondering if the cat really didn't know or if she were being dense on purpose, as Inuyasha often did. Deciding to be blunt, she stated, "Ye are with child."

Charlotte felt the blood drain out of her head and pool in her feet as her mind tried to wrap itself around her words. A clawed hand crept over to rest on her belly. "You mean…"

"Aye."

"Are you sure? Maybe you made a mistake."

"I made no mistake."

"No. Oh no. This can't be happening."

"It has happened, as it often does when two people engage in that sort of activity."

"Now you sound like my mother. But why I can't transform?"

"Perhaps to protect the babe from harm. I know not. Ye might consult Lady Sango or a demon for that lore."

Scrubbing a hand across her face, she sat back and crossed her legs. Her youkai had known about this, she was sure of it. '_Make a home for ourselves_' indeed. And she was just starting to get used to the idea of living here, had been using the shard hunting as a means to test her abilities. They really didn't need her, but Kagome appreciated the tutoring.

How would she tell them? She knew that they wondered about her relationship with Sesshomaru, perhaps likening her jokes to Miroku's boasting, who obviously didn't get laid as often as he let on. And Inuyasha… he'd be an uncle to his much-hated half-brother's child. Would he cast her out of the group? Should she even be training or shard hunting while expecting? Should she go to Sesshomaru with the news? Feudal lords liked heirs; maybe he would forgive the channeling thing if he knew she were pregnant.

"What do I do?" she whispered, almost rhetorically.

Kaede, who had been thinking along similar lines, picked up the pestle and resumed grinding the herbs. "Ye can go to the father or no, stay here or no, but ye must plan something. Also, ye must understand that the child belongs to his sire."

"He could take it from me?" she asked in shock, her hand tightening over her belly.

"Aye."

Charlotte didn't want this pregnancy; it terrified her. But through the fear and uncertainty, a wave of fierce protectiveness surged through her, tingeing her eyes with red. There was no way in hell she'd let someone take away her cub.

XxxxxxxxxX

Sesshomaru stood outside the door to his mate's chambers, his hand curled over the latch but not making any move to enter. He had not visited her once since the ceremony, not even to consummate the mating as was expected of him.

He didn't want to be here now, wouldn't be if she weren't in heat. This was his chance to father an heir and he would rather get it over with than draw it out. Without bothering to knock, he pushed open the door and entered. Leiko stood by the window dressed in a simple robe, her hair piled on her head and held with a long jeweled pin.

"My lord, you honor this Leiko with your presence," her smooth voice spoke the words respectfully but with no affection.

"You know why this Sesshomaru is here."

"Yes, my lord." She drifted out of the sitting room and kneeled on the futon, freeing her hair from the pin but making no move to undress. They would do this as fully clothed as possible, minimizing the intimacy that neither desired.

Leiko heard the rustle of his clothes as he kneeled behind her and smiled to herself, holding the hairpin tightly in one hand. She had never met such a cold, arrogant man; his complete lack of interest in her would make her task that much easier. Pushing her robe up, he nudged her knees apart with his own. Seemingly compliant, she bent forward, steadying herself on one hand while the other held the pin close.

She felt his distraction as he fussed with this hakama and took her chance, stabbing backward with the pin at his flexed thigh. She was fast and had the element of surprise, but he was faster, leaping backward just before the pin could pierce his flesh.

Spinning around, she engulfed her body in flame, harmless to her but deadly to anything else that touched it. She flung herself at him, pin raised high, but again, she was too slow. Standing at the back of the room, unruffled and as impassive as ever, he cut the air with two claws from which his acid whip lashed out, wrapping around the base of the hand holding the pin. Shrieking as the acid burnt into her skin, she tried to send a tendril of fire along the whip, but he snapped it back, taking her hand with it.

She knew she was dead, had not really expected to survive this task, but was determined to take him with her. Her mouth already open as she screamed, she released a stream of fire from the pit of her stomach, bathing him in liquid flame. The inferno was abruptly smothered when his whip sliced cleanly through her neck. Blackening and shriveling, Leiko's body crumbled to the floor in a pile of greasy ashes.

Unharmed and mildly relieved, Sesshomaru brushed ash from his singed clothes with delicate hands. 'Marmoru will not be pleased,' he though without humor.

XxxxxxxxxX

Stroking the Kirara's head, Charlotte trilled quietly to her, letting her know that she wasn't mad at the two-tail for telling her. She was mad at _Sesshomaru_, that bastard, for mating, and Yukio's _daughter_ no less. She didn't blame the little firecat, that would be stupid, and as much as the news hurt her, she was glad that she knew. She would have been devastated if she had returned to his mansion only to find another woman in his bed. Well, more devastated than she was now, if that was possible.

'He thinks you left,' she repeated to herself as the pit of her stomach started swallow up the rest of her insides. 'He wouldn't have mated you anyway.' Kirara bumped her head against her leg, purring reassuringly. Charlotte's breath hitched, a sob struggling out despite her hand pressed against her mouth.

Twigs cracked in the brush behind her and she squeezed her eyes shut, wiping the tears from her face. She'd thought she'd found a private spot in this clearing in Inuyasha's Forest, away from the village so that she could mull over her next moves without worrying about people bothering her. Apparently, she was wrong, because not only had Kirara found her, but Kagome as well.

"Hi Charlotte!" she chirped, her yellow backpack bouncing on her back. "I passed that test with flying colors! My math teacher was so surprised, he-" she stopped short, her brown eyes widening.

"Are you crying?"

Charlotte dabbed at her leaking eyes with a corner of her sleeve and managed a shaky laugh. "No! It's just allergies."

"Uh huh," she dropped the bag on the ground and sat next to the demon on the fallen log. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Giving up the war against her tears, she let them roll down her cheeks. "You don't want to hear it."

"You're my friend, that's what friends are for. Besides, it can't be that bad," Kagome rubbed the her shoulder, trying to offer the cat demon some comfort. It wasn't like her to be so emotional and she was positive that this was the only time she'd seen her crying freely.

Kagome's warm hand on her shoulder crumbled that last bricks of poise she had left and Charlotte's shoulders slumped as she gave into great, wracking sobs. Wrapping her arms around the weeping woman, Kagome held her tightly, making shushing sounds and stroking her back until sobs faded into hiccups.

Sniffling, Charlotte pulled away and wiped her face. "I'm too old to be bawling like a fucking baby."

Kagome shook her head. "We all do it sometimes, and you've been through a lot."

Laughing short and humorlessly, Charlotte raked a clawed hand through her hair. "Kagome, you don't know the half of it. I really screwed up this time."

Waiting patiently for her continue, Kagome gave her shoulder a small squeeze.

"I… I'm pregnant." The last words came out in a rush, as if saying them was a curse.

"What?" Kagome reared back, thinking for a moment that she'd heard wrong.

"I'm single and barefoot and pregnant!" Charlotte wailed, scrunching her hands in her hair and throwing her head back.

"Oh Charlotte…"

"And Kaede told me that he could take my cub away!"

"He?" Kagome asked stupidly, her mind was whirling.

"Sesshomaru! Who else?"

"So you did…?"

"Yes, yes," she said impatiently. "When I dropped him off, I couldn't just leave him injured so I channeled him a little and one thing led to another-"

"But why would he want to do _that_ when you were channeling him?"

"Well… probably because that's what we were doing the last time I was channeling him."

"Oh." Kagome blinked several times as she tried to absorb this news. Charlotte had settled down and was now staring off into space, her lips pursed and eyes narrowed. "Maybe you should go to him-"

Charlotte snorted, "He mated Yukio's daughter. Kirara heard it through the grapevine." Refusing to break down again, she twisted the hurt into anger and scowled down at the soft grass carpeting the clearing.

"Oh." Feeling a little helpless, Kagome offered up the only encouragement she could think of. "We won't let him take your baby."

"We? Inuyasha will be furious! What if-"

Kagome cut in quickly, "It's true that Inuyasha and Sesshomaru don't get along, but he wouldn't abandon you or your baby."

Unconvinced, Charlotte plucked at the grass, uprooting small clumps and then pressing them back into the earth. "You won't tell anyone, will you?"

"They'll find out eventually," Kagome pointed out reasonably.

"I know, but… not yet."

XxxxxxxxxxxX

Mamoru glanced from the pile of ashes to his lord, then back. "An assassin?" The old bear demon used a booted foot to separate the long hairpin from the remains of the former Lady of the Western Lands.

"Hn."

'Now why doesn't he seem more upset?' Mamoru wondered sarcastically as he picked up the pin in the claws of his thumb and forefinger. Inspecting it closely, he noticed that it was hollow with a tiny stopper wedged into the wider end. Pressing the tip gently with his thumb, he saw that it was very thin and easily broken. At his low rumble, a soldier stepped forward and took the pin, holding it gingerly. "I think she was trying to poison you. Sei will confirm this with the healer."

A chambermaid bustled in and swept the ashes into a plain, ceramic pot. Working efficiently, she had the floor spotless within minutes and left, leaving only Mamoru and Sesshomaru in his mate's bedroom.

"My lord, this puts us no closer to an heir," Mamoru remarked, too casually for Sesshomaru's taste.

The bear had rarely used his seniority since Sesshomaru had assumed rule from his father, but from the stern knitting of the old youkai's eyebrows, he knew that Mamoru was about to take a liberty that few dared. Out of respect for his father and his elders, Sesshomaru allowed it, hiding his annoyance behind a taciturn expression.

"And without Leiko or an heir, your hold on the Southern Lands is fragile."

"I am aware of that."

"Perhaps you should fetch that cat of yours."

"Impossible." Sesshomaru turned abruptly, ending the audience with a swirling of silver hair.

'Just as stubborn as his father with none of his good nature,' Mamoru watched the tall, lithe figure sweep out of the room. He did not believe that the pretty kitty was all that unreachable. His lord may have his reasons for not pursuing it, but Mamoru had seen how he'd looked at her; recognized that look from the lord's father when he'd met the human woman.

Sometimes lords needed a little push from their vassals, and this seemed to be one of those times. He'd have the cat tracked down and brought before Sesshomaru, and for finding things, there was no demon better than Kato. How far could one female go on an island, after all?

With a decisive nod of his head, Mamoru lumbered out of the room and toward the barracks.

XxxxxxxxxxxX

Sesshomaru fumed the entire way back to his private chambers, slamming the door on of one of his maids as she hurried out of his room with a pile of laundry. If she were at all attainable, he would have brought her back already. Alone, he allowed his mask of indifference slip. Growling, he lashed out with the claws of his left hand, rending jagged holes in the fabric of an innocent wall hanging. What use was the arm if he couldn't touch her with it? He had been fine without it, would trade it for her if he could.

And yet… he could almost remember holding her, both hands on her hips as he took her, both arms wrapped around her as they slept. It had to have been a dream, though disturbingly realistic.

His youkai squirmed in objection and he squelched it. It was his youkai that had been upsetting him lately, and frankly, he'd had enough. If he hadn't listened to his instincts and simply carried on as he always had, he would not be longing for something he couldn't have. It was unseemly for tai-youkai.

The landscape painting still hung in his sitting room, a stationary reminder of golden hair and a quick smile. Raising his claws to destroy it, he paused at a quiet knock on his door. Almost instantly, his aloof demeanor was back in place, as if his tantrum had never taken place.

"Come in, Rin."

The door swung open and the little girl stepped hesitantly into the room. Though groomed for court with her black hair pulled back by two silver combs and wearing a blue silk kimono, she still managed to have a disheveled air about her. However, the playful twinkle in her eye was darkened by worry.

"My Lord?"

"Yes, Rin."

"They say that Lady Leiko tried to kill you. Are you alright?"

"As you can see, I am unharmed, which is more than I can say for her." He quirked an eyebrow to lighten the mood.

Grinning, Rin giggled behind a hand. "You're the best, my lord." She sighed suddenly, the smile running away from her face. "Kitty wouldn't have done that. Why did she have to go?"

'_I'd be a concubine until you found a mate… I don't want that life._' She'd never meant to stay, she'd told him as much. '_I should have killed you the moment I set eyes on you._' But he hadn't exactly encouraged her to stay, either.

"When you are older, you will understand," Sesshomaru said finally, at a loss to console her, so not even attempting. Foul mouth aside, the cat would have been good for Rin, filling in the gaps of her care that he and Jaken left.

Rin nodded, accepting his word as truth, as she always did. With a sad little curtsey, she padded out of the room and closed the door behind her, leaving the tai-youkai alone with his thoughts.


	20. Cat out of the Bag

A/N: Yes, two chapters in as many days! More adult themes in this one, it's rated 'M' for a reason. Thanks for sticking with me!

FFnet: Gothic-Ember – your wish is my command…(evil grin), Tora Delerium, Neisha

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 20 – The Cat out of the Bag

The field seemed to hold its breath as Charlotte faced Inuyasha, a plain wooden staff clenched in her hands. Feet apart, body in a defensive crouch, Inuyasha held a fully transformed Tetsusaiga at the ready. Only the wind seemed unconcerned by the two opponents, rushing through the long grasses and rippling them like water.

Charlotte's stomach rumbled noisily and she grimaced. Almost two months along and she had started to show, though not so much that she couldn't disguise it, and she was always hungry. Each day she got a little bigger and very soon, she wouldn't be able to brush it off as eating too much or bloating. Fortunately, in this era as in hers, when she said 'women's problems', guys stopped asking questions and left her alone.

True to their words, Kaede and Kagome had kept her secret, but she knew that it was only a matter of time before the others began to suspect. Sango had started to ask her something the other day, a strange glint in her eye, but had stopped herself before any words had been spoken. For obvious reasons, Charlotte hadn't pursued it.

"Are you waiting for an invitation or what? Do it already, it's lunch time!" she shouted at the hesitating hanyou.

"Feh! Just make sure you don't lose it this time, fatty!" he yelled back, raising Tetsusaiga. Scowling, Charlotte took her cue and let her beast extend beyond her body, giving Inuyasha the demonic aura he needed to activate the windscar. Slamming the blade against the ground, he sent bolts of power toward her.

Charlotte stood her ground and concentrated, trying to guide the energy through her and into the staff she held. Knuckles whitening as her grip on the staff tightened, the windscar lashed around her, pulled into a swirling vortex with her at the center. Almost shaking with effort, she drew the energy into herself and then pushed it through her hands and into the wood. As it absorbed more power, the staff began to hum and heat up, but she held the channel open, forcing more and more energy into it.

The energy channel closed on its own as the last of the windscar entered the staff and Charlotte released the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, smiling triumphantly. She'd done it! She'd actually channeled a large amount of power into an inanimate object! Charged it, so to speak. Unlike lashing out blindly with surrounding energy or circulating youki, charging objects took a great deal of finesse and she'd been working on it for a couple of weeks. This was the first time she'd managed to prevent any of the energy from going wild or the object to explode.

"Great job, Charlotte!" Kagome called from the edge of the field, holding two bags of potato chips and several apples in her arms. "You guys want a snack?"

"Hell, yeah!" Inuyasha sheathed Tetsusaiga with a flourish.

Charlotte heartily seconded that motion, but found that the ground wasn't quite as steady as it had been a moment ago. The observation blandly intrigued her as gray began to creep around the edges of her vision and her ears were filled with a persistent humming. Even more interesting was how quickly the ground was rising up to meet her. It didn't usually do that, did it? At least the grass was soft…

Kagome gasped and dropped the bags of potato chips, running toward Charlotte's crumpled form. "Charlotte, are you okay?"

Dazed, Charlotte blinked at the sky spinning over her. "…yeah, I think so." Well, she would be when everything stopped moving.

"We should get you to Kaede. The baby-"

"What baby?" Inuyasha snapped as he leapt toward them, his silver ears perked forward.

Charlotte groaned and covered her eyes with her arm. Eyes widening, Kagome slapped a hand over her mouth. "Nothing!" she mumbled around her fingers.

"What baby?" he repeated loudly, casting a suspicious glare at the two women.

"_My_ baby, Inuyasha," Charlotte said quietly, not moving from her prone position or meeting his eyes.

"Your WHAT?"

"Hey! It's not like I did it on purpose!"

"So that bastard took advantage of you! I knew it. I'll-"

"No, I didn't get _pregnant_ on purpose."

"I can't believe you… and my brother… " Inuyasha finished the sentence with strangled bark, almost a howl, that scared a family of blue jays from a nearby tree.

Kagome's eyes widened in horror, "Inuyasha!" She didn't need to speak youkai to understand that last word.

"Did you think I was joking?" Charlotte snapped back.

"And _you_ knew!" he pointed an accusing finger at the girl who was waving her hands as she tried to stop the argument.

"Don't yell at her! She promised me," Charlotte growled, sitting up and bracing herself against the spinning in her head with two hands firmly planted behind her.

"Filthy bitch. I should take that pup and-"

Charlotte's snarl cut his suggestion short with its bloodthirsty rattle. Unsheathing her claws to their longest, she rolled into a crouch, her eyes red and wild. Her head cleared as the rage flooded her body at his threat to her young.

Belatedly realizing his mistake, Inuyasha took several hasty steps backwards. They insulted each other all the time, but he had apparently gone too far and everyone knew not to threaten a breeding female youkai; it was tantamount to a messy, painful suicide.

Disregarding the cat demon's bared fangs, Kagome grabbed Charlotte's arm, trying to drag her attention away from the hanyou. "He didn't mean it, Charlotte."

"Kagome, get away from her!" he reached for her but held back at a firm shake of her head. His heart pounded with concern for Kagome, but Charlotte didn't appear to want to attack the girl. However, she tracked _him_ with her red eyes, watching each move he made.

"He didn't mean it. Did you Inuyasha?" Kagome's dulcet tones had a calming affect on her, as did Inuyasha's slow shake of the head, and Charlotte felt the blood rage ebb away leaving her shaken and a little light headed. Had she really been about to tear into Inuyasha? Her youkai growled in affirmation; nothing was more important than the life growing inside her and she would kill to protect it.

"We heard shouting! What's going on?" Sango ran through the field, Hiraikotsu slung over her shoulder, Miroku racing by her side with Shippo on his shoulder. Kirara tailed the group by a few paces.

"Everything's fine," Kagome assured them as she got to her feet. Charlotte hoisted herself up with the staff, the living feel of the wood comforting under her hands.

"Keh. Stupid cat got herself knocked up," Inuyasha grumped and crossed his arms over his chest but was careful not to make any threatening gestures. It felt a little ashamed of what he just been about to say; his brother's pup or no, it was still family.

Miroku's mouth rounded into an 'o', his eyebrows disappearing into his bangs. Sango pursed her lips as if she weren't surprised. "Sesshomaru?"

Charlotte nodded, chewing on her lip.

"I thought that demons knew when they were in heat. Surely, _he_ must have smelled it," Miroku remarked to no one in particular.

"They can," Shippo assured him, looking as confused as the monk.

"I've never had to pay attention before," Charlotte protested uncomfortably. "We've got stuff in my time to prevent all that. As for Sesshomaru… well, my human form masks my scent and he wasn't exactly in his right mind anyway…"

"What do you mean, he wasn't-" Miroku asked

"I don't want to talk about this right now. I'm hungry," she complained and turned away, striding toward the forest and the path toward the village.

"Wait!" Inuyasha barked to her in youkai. She stopped, head down with her back to him. In two quick bounds he was next to her.

"You're my brother's woman, and since he's as good as dead-"

Charlotte broke in with a raised eyebrows," 'cause you're gonna kill him?"

Inuyasha snorted, as if that should've been obvious, and continued as if she hadn't interrupted. "-you're my responsibility. _I_ don't desert family."

"Huh?" Charlotte had expected the ranting and raving, but this?

"My nephew," he pointed a claw at her belly, then tapped her chest with it, "My sister."

Touched, her heart warmed in her chest as moisture pricked her eyes, and for the first time in weeks, she thought things might turn out okay after all. Inuyasha's eyes widened in panic as the tang of salt hit his nose.

"Kagome!" On the verge of following them anyway, she hurried over. "We're done training for today. Go have lunch or something."

"O-okay," she stammered, the 'osuwari' she had been ready to say fizzling on her tongue.

He stomped back over to Sango and Miroku, who were staring at him in frank curiosity. Shippo had seized his chance to horde the potato chips and was now polishing off the first bag. "Whadda ya looking at?"

Charlotte fixed Kagome with a stern look, "Don't let him get away. He's a keeper."

Kagome nodded sagely. "I know."

XxxxxxxxX

Kato saluted smartly as he waited for the bear general to acknowledge him. Dropping the scroll of reports from the border that had occupied his entire afternoon onto the low desk, Mamoru grunted and fixed the scout with a stern eye.

"Well?"

"No sign of her in the Southern Lands, though information there is hardly reliable due to the chaos there. Lord Yukio's tower still stands, as Lord Sesshomaru has said."

"Did you have any doubt?" Mamoru asked him irritably.

"Of course not, General. The cat was seen in that region in the company of several others, one who matches the description of the lord's half-brother, but she is there no longer."

Why would Lord Sesshomaru have left his concubine in the care of his half-brother? He hated the hanyou that tarnished his father's name, would never have allowed such a thing. In that case, did Inuyasha steal the woman? Perhaps she left of her own volition or they were separated during battle? Why had he brought the female to Yukio in the first place? Shaking his head against the barrage of questions, Mamoru gestured for the scout to continue.

"Next, I will go to the lands of Musashi, to the area called Inuyasha's Forest. If she were in his company once, then there is a good chance she is still with him. Few women prefer to travel alone."

Nodding his head sharply, Mamoru rapped out, "Do it. I will expect your next direct report in a fortnight." Kato spun smartly on his heel and was almost out the door when Mamoru's last orders stopped him.

"If you find her, bring her here, but do_ not_ hurt her." Kato saluted again, and exited the room, closing the door softly behind him.

XxxxxxxxxxX

"I wish I could go with you guys," Charlotte stood outside Kaede's hut and forlornly watched the group make its final preparations for leaving.

Kagome stopped rummaging through her bag and gave her a cheerful smile, completely missing Shippo sneaking up and nabbing a lollipop from one of the side pockets. "We'll be back before you know it."

"I doubt it," she mumbled and crossed her arms under her breasts and over her rounded tummy.

She'd taken to tying her sash at empire height, as did the other pregnant women of the village. Horrified by her expanding waistline, she checked her reflection in a local stream, hoping that the higher waistline would hide her girth. To her dismay, it didn't.

"_What are you bitching about now?" Inuyasha asked as he walked up behind her, his gruff voice belying the gentleness with which he now treated her. She thought it had a lot to do with the fact that he would now have family that loved him, looked up to him._

"_Look at me! I'm fat! My stomach sticks out as far as my boobs!" she wailed, checking her reflection to confirm her observation._

"_Keh. All women in your condition blow up like that." A tinge of pink touched his cheeks and he shifted uncomfortably._

"_Oh, thanks, I've always wanted to be compared to a balloon." She'd puffed out her cheeks, but caught another glimpse of herself in the water and immediately deflated them._

Inuyasha scowled at her pout. "Stay close to the village. I smelled a demon close by the other day, and I don't want to find you a mate only to find out that you got yourself killed."

Charlotte rolled her eyes, "I will, and you don't have to find me a mate." The dog demon had taken it upon himself to hook her up. He'd said that the only way to protect her pup from Sesshomaru was to find a mate who would adopt the pup as his own. A wolf demon by the name of Koga had come up, earning him a sitting from Kagome.

"It's a brother's duty to find his widowed sister a mate!"

"Aren't you counting dead brothers before they die?" but she couldn't put much rancor into the comment; he was simply looking out for her. Unfortunately, it was the best idea anyone had come up with, and if mating another meant that she got to keep her cub, then so be it.

"Don't worry," Shippo piped up, pulling the sucker out of his mouth with a pop. "If Inuyasha can't find anyone, I'll mate you."

"Thank you, Shippo, that's very kind."

"Now Shippo, what would you do with a mate?" Miroku asked, a naughty glint in his eyes, his face schooled into an expression of indulgence.

Sango whacked the back of his head with her hand and Kagome cut in hurriedly, "You don't have to answer that, Shippo."

"Lech," Inuyasha muttered. "Come on, we're wasting time."

With last waves and goodbyes, the group left without her, their silhouettes disappearing over a small hill, the sounds of their voices fading in the morning air.

"He's right, you know," Kaede spoke behind her. "It's the only way to ensure that ye keep your child."

Sighing sadly, Charlotte chewed on her lip. "I know, but I don't want just _any_ mate, I want…"

"Of course ye do, child. Ye love him."

Nodding sadly, she blinked away the moisture in her eyes. She was such an emotional wreck these days. She wanted to believe it was the hormones that were making her cry so often, but she couldn't lie to herself. She loved him and missed him with an aching that left her heart rent and bleeding.

She sniffed and turned to the miko. "Well, put me to work." The old woman blinked at her. "Give me something to do, I like to feel useful."

"Well, ye could gather some herbs for me, but don't stray too far from the village…"

"I know, I know. Just tell me what to look for." Here she was, a highly trained programmer who had been groomed for management, reduced to picking flowers. Well, it was better than nothing.

XxxxxxxxX

Charlotte set down the basket full of plants and seated herself on a low boulder. The late summer sun beat down on her and she mopped at her brow, now thankful that she wasn't walking with the group. She was looking forward to a midday snack with Kaede and a relaxing soak in the stream. Chuckling, she realized how much she'd changed. Gone was the sophisticated city girl who had to have perfect hair and nails, purified water, and a bottle of wine with dinner. She hadn't had a drink since she left L.A., a good thing since she'd managed to get knocked up right after.

To be honest, she hadn't really missed the drinking and partying, commuting and working, the noise and bustle of the city. If she weren't quite so miserable without Sesshomaru, or so scared of having a child, she could be happy here. The air was clean and quiet, the water fresh and drinkable, right from the font. Her senses were sharpening as the over-stimulation of the city faded. She supposed that, in time, her heart would heal, and even Sesshomaru would just be a memory from another life. A cherished memory, forever reinforced by the face of her cub, but a memory nonetheless.

Picking several flowers that grew near the boulder, she tucked the stems into the two braids that started at her temples and met at the back of her head. Kagome had brought her a letter from Charlie, but she had yet to read it. Torn between her love for her brother and the desire to accept her new life and therefore the loss of him, she had tucked the folded paper into her kimono unopened.

So lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice the demon approaching until he was standing in front of her.

"Kato!" she gasped, rearing back and almost losing her seat on the boulder.

"Yo," the boar youkai leered at her, his tusks gleaming wetly as his tongue traced their lengths. "I'm to take you back to Lord Sesshomaru, whether you like it or not." His eyes glittered, seeming to hope that she would not like it.

"No," she stood and tried to edge away from him, but he had her trapped between herself and the boulder. A shudder crawled up her spine as she remembered how much she disliked this man.

"All alone, are we? No hanyou lover to come to your rescue?" he took a menacing step forward, his pig-like snout twitching in glee.

"My…?" Charlotte was baffled and scared. How had he found her? Her what? Did he mean Inuyasha?

"I knew you were an easy woman when I saw you, slut. The lord won't know if I sample the goods, since you've obviously been out and about yourself." Faster than his bulk should have allowed, he lunged forward, grabbing her wrists in his gnarled hands. His breath hit her face like a gust of air from a port-a-potty.

She snarled, the rage rising in her as he pressed against her stomach, and aimed a kick at his crotch. Avoiding it with practiced ease, he wrenched her arms above her head and whipped her around, one hand claiming both wrists behind her back and forcing her face first against the boulder. Crying out in pain, as her knees were knocked apart with his two stout legs, she felt the life within her shift slightly, sensing her trauma.

Her vision went red as her beast took control and she locked onto his youkai, slamming open a channel even as he yanked up her kimono. His body went rigid as his energy was wrenched out of him through the hand that held her wrists. Struggling futilely, his erection withering against her thigh, he reared back and roared as she thrust his youkai into the boulder under her. His grip loosened as the last of him entered the stone, his body slumping on top of her.

With a heave, she pushed away from the boulder, closing the channel and baring her fangs at the living but empty body on the ground, his hakama around his ankles. No human though crossed her mind as she drove her claws into his stomach, eviscerating him. The scent of blood only egged on her beast, and she licked her claws before tearing into him again as if her were a deer she'd just caught while hunting.

It wasn't until hours later, very full and a little sleepy, that her beast receded, leaving a trembling Charlotte in its wake. She stared at the ravaged body and the gore that covered her skin and clothes, trying to feel bad about what she'd just done.

'I can't believe I just ate my ex-boyfriend's employee,' she thought as wiped blood off her face with the hem of her kimono. Her beast purred contentedly within her, 'He deserved it.'

Charlotte couldn't argue with that, the guy was a rapist creep. 'Still… maybe lions eat pigs in the wild,' she rationalized, finding that she just couldn't feel sorry for her meal. The important thing was: how much time did she have before she were found again?

She gathered up the herbs and headed toward her favorite bathing hole, leaving Kato's remains scattered in the dirt for the wolves and his youki ensconced in the boulder.

XxxxxxxxX

"Report, General," Sesshomaru ordered the bear youkai standing in front of his desk.

Mamoru saluted, deciding to start with the good news. "The campaign for the Southern Lands is going better than we thought. Without Yukio to lead them, most of his generals deserted, leaving the armies without direction. Almost all of the soldiers have surrendered with oaths of fealty to you. The few that have resisted hoped to take the territory for themselves and were quickly routed."

Sesshomaru nodded, satisfied that the battle for the Southern Lands would be quick and fairly bloodless. He had nothing against violence as a rule, but it was not worth the trouble to rebuild war-torn villages and crush peasant revolts.

"We have set up battalions of your soldiers in the larger towns to help keep the peace and we have not had dispose of many headsmen. Most remain under the same leadership as they did under Lord Yukio. We have taken his mansion and General Taro readies it for your arrival."

"I will journey there in the fall after the first harvests."

"Yes, my lord." Mamoru recognized the dismissal but continued to stand there, resisting the urge to fidget or fling himself at his lord's feet.

"Was there something else, General?" Sesshomaru spoke with thinly disguised irritation.

"My lord, forgive an old bear his folly." Without another word, he handed him Kato's last written report, which he'd received three weeks ago. The scout should have been back at the mansion by now and Mamoru suspected something had happened to him.

Snatching it out of his hand, Sesshomaru unrolled the scroll, his eyes widening as he read the contents, his claws digging into the brightly polished teak wood of his desk. He couldn't help the growl that rose out of his throat as his eyes re-read the letter and he only barely held in check the raging of his youkai.

"She's here. With Inuyasha." Tetsusaiga wasn't enough? He had to take his woman, too? She could easily have obliterated him, just as she had done Yukio, which meant that she was with him by choice. Abstract, bloody images, pierced by tormented shrieks and slashing claws, filled his mind.

"As it says, my lord. She is also with child."

His hand tightened reflexively on the paper, crumpling it into a ball. He'd seen that part, too, and though it did not name the father, he was fairly certain he knew whose it was. "Who wrote this report?" he ground out between clenched teeth. Only with his iron will did he prevent his body from taking his youkai form.

"Kato, my lord. He was supposed to have brought her back with him or reported in person to me but has failed to do either. This was the last missive I've received from him."

"Ready Ah-Un and Jaken. I will take care of this myself."

"And Rin, my lord?"

"She does not need to know about this."


	21. Confrontations

A/N: Lemon alert! This is the clean version of this chapter. For the unedited version, please use the link on my profile to access this story on Mediaminer(dot)org.

Thanks for all of your wonderful support! It's nice to know that people are reading and enjoying.

FFnet: forgotten angel, Tora Delerium, Yami, gothic-ember, agent-doo, Neisha

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 21 – Confrontations

Kagome nodded over her book again, her head drifting forward, then snapping back as the girl stammered an apology.

"It's okay, you just got back tonight. No wonder you're tired." Charlotte closed the book and helped the teen stow her pencils in their box. Closing her backpack and pushing it against the wall of Kaede's hut, Kagome was overcome by a huge yawn.

"I'm glad to be back, though. We searched for three weeks and didn't find a single shard nor a sign of Naraku." Charlotte nodded sympathetically, then winced as the baby kicked something tender. Kagome's eyes lit up. "He's moving? Can I feel?"

"Yeah, but it might be a girl, you know." She leaned back a little, giving Kagome full access to her distended stomach.

Kagome put a hesitant hand on her belly, her face transfixed with wonder. "He's getting so big, so quickly!" her voice was hushed as she concentrated on the life under her hand. She was absolutely right; in the weeks that the group had been gone, Charlotte's girth had almost tripled.

Charlotte snorted indelicately, "It'll be twins, if luck and genetics have anything to say about it."

"How much longer?"

"I don't really know. Normal lions have their cubs in about three months and it's almost been that. I suppose it'll come when it's ready."

"And how have the villagers been treating you?"

She shrugged. "I leave them alone, they leave me alone. It's fine. And Kaede let me move into an empty hut near the southern edge of the village."

Inuyasha dropped into a sit next to Kagome, hands planted between his feet. Kagome rolled her eyes, "Inuyasha, not now…"

He ignored her, only the flick of one white ear acknowledging that she spoke at all. "I found you a mate."

"Oh yeah?" Charlotte asked, a little afraid of whom the hanyou could have found so quickly.

"Yeah, a panther from the East, and an heir to the chieftainship of his tribe. He's willing to adopt this one," he pointed a claw at her belly, "but it won't be his heir. He said a female with your abilities would be an asset to his tribe."

"Gee, thanks. And when will I get to meet this Romeo?" she asked sarcastically as she wondered which abilities the panther valued more: channeling or having babies.

Inuyasha stared at her blankly. "His name ain't Romeo. It's Senichi. He'll meet you in the morning. What? It's the best thing for you, especially after that attack by the boar." He scowled at her mulish expression and she relented. He was only trying to help, after all.

"Okay, Inuyasha. Thank you. I'll meet him in the morning." He snorted and stood, stomping back out of the hut and into the night. Kagome watched him go and sighed heavily.

Charlotte winked at her and laced her fingers under her chin, singing, "Matchmaker, matchmaker make me a match, find me a mate, catch me a catch!" Kagome broke into giggles and Charlotte soon followed. A faint "Oi!" drifted through the window and they laughed harder, Charlotte clutching her tummy and Kagome mopping at her streaming eyes.

Sobering as tomorrow's interview came to the forefront of her mind, Charlotte propped an elbow on her knee and rested her chin in her hand. Kagome gave her round stomach a reassuring pat.

"He's an okay guy, I guess. A bit arrogant and pig-headed, if you ask me, but I think Inuyasha chose him for his station," her face clouded for a moment as she recalled the panther's haughty attitude. "At least he'll be able to protect you."

"If I don't like him, I don't have to mate him, right?" It was Charlotte's turn to be reassuring. "And if I do like him, well, maybe I could love him."

Kagome nodded brightly, but they both knew that she had better like this guy. Charlotte hadn't seen any more of Sesshomaru's vassals (she'd left out a lot of the story when recounting to the others her meeting with Kato), and Inuyasha had said that the only demon within several leagues was Senichi, but they were all very nervous.

XxxxxxxxX

The beauty of the morning was lost on the little group of humans and youkai. Chirping birds, glistening dew, quiet creeping of mist over the fields were crowded out by the sense of urgency and sorrow that had fallen over them.

Clasping her hands under her belly to help support it's weight, Charlotte stood apart from her friends, trying to endure Senichi's inspection with as much good grace as she could muster. She was dressed simply but beautifully, in soft greens that matched her eyes and with purple mums twined into the two small braids that kept her hair out of her face. Kagome had insisted that she look her best and had done the braids herself, but Charlotte couldn't help but think the effort was pointless, since "looking her best" would not have included a bun in the oven.

Senichi stalked around her, black tail slashing the air as he sniffed her hair and eyed her body. He made several circles but never once bothered to look her in the eye.

"You want to check my teeth while you're at it?" she snapped, unable to hold in her annoyance any more.

Stepping in front of her, he looked down at her with his slitted yellow eyes. He was handsome, she had to admit, but so far, that was the only thing going for him. Blue-black hair hung to his waist, fixed into a long tail with a series of golden rings. Gracefully pointed ears were pierced several times and adorned with more golden rings. He was tawny, lean and well muscled, shown off by an open vest and slim-fitting hakama.

"Inuyasha warned me that you were mouthy."

She shot the offending hanyou a speaking glare and he smirked at her, gesturing at the panther in front of her.

Turing the glare onto the cat, she met his eyes with pride and resolve, no longer bothering to hide her ire. "And what else did he say?"

He blinked under the force of her stare, then grinned suddenly, his posture relaxing. "A spirited one. You'll do."

"I'll _do_ what?"

He leaned forward until their noses were almost touching and purred, "You'll bear me many fine sons." He finished the statement by gliding his cheek along hers. She resisted the urge to slap him.

"You don't want to know who the father of this one is?" she asked quietly.

He exhaled into her ear, sending an involuntary shiver down her spine, "It's mine, now."

Pulling away, but still remaining far too close for her comfort, he leered at her. "You don't have a dowry, but the hanyou mentioned that you could channel energy…" he trailed off and looked at her expectantly.

A trill of fear shot through her and his grin widened imperceptibly. "Is that a good thing?"

"It is if it's true. The dogs of the West were supposed to have destroyed them all, but power like that would give my tribe a definite advantage."

In response, Charlotte opened a channel and tugged on his youki, deriving satisfaction from his startled jump and wide eyes. She let go and closed the channel, and this time it was her turn to grin, showing sharp fangs between her lips.

Senichi took a shaky breath and quickly regained his composure, measuring her in a new light. "Oh, yes. You'll do, and I'll enjoy it."

XxxxxxxxxX

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Kagome asked after she surfaced the water, rubbing her eyes to clear them.

Sango squeezed a small amount of the precious shampoo into her hand and set aside the bottle, working lather into her hair. "What choice does she have?"

"None at all," Charlotte remarked. The warm mineral water gently worked at her muscles, relaxing the tension out of them and giving sweet relief to her heavy body. She let herself float, her eyes half-closed as she resigned herself to her fate.

"Yeah, but-"

"It's okay, Kagome. I've always been a pragmatist. Following my heart got me into this; a good dose of reality will get me out."

"Senichi seems like a pervert, if you ask me," Sango muttered, rinsing the lather from her hair and reaching for the bottle of conditioner.

Charlotte giggled, "That's not necessarily a bad thing." Both Sango and Kagome flushed. "And men are surprisingly easy to handle when you've got their nookie held hostage."

Sango cleared her throat, and then ventured hesitantly, "I've heard that…" she waved her hand vaguely, "… is only pleasurable for the man."

Aghast, Charlotte snorted. "Then someone wasn't doing it right."

"Oh," Sango looked thoughtful and ducked under the water.

Kagome and Inuyasha, Sango and Miroku, would they ever take the steps she and Sesshomaru had? Charlotte hoped so; there was real love between the pairs and they had a chance at happiness.

"You'll come visit me, right?" Charlotte asked as she floated over to the hair care products and righted herself, applying a small amount of shampoo directly to her hair. Demon hair didn't really need to be washed like this, she'd discovered, but she indulged this one last time.

"Of course we will," Kagome assured her, happy to leave the uncomfortable topic of sex behind her. She was almost eighteen and her fantasies of Inuyasha had gotten progressively steamier over the years. Recently, she could swear that the hanyou had given her _looks_. Looks that made her insides tingle.

"It will be interesting to see what a half dog, half lion youkai will look like," Sango stated as she rinsed the remaining conditioner from her hair.

"And one-sixteenth human," Charlotte added.

Kagome smiled sadly. "I'm sure he'll be beautiful."

They finished bathing quietly, each woman occupied with her own thoughts, and wrapped in their robes, twisting fluffy towels around their wet hair. Charlotte took her time, not letting her nervousness get the better of her. Tonight, she'd meet Senichi as his mate, let him mark her and claim her. Tomorrow, they'd start the journey to his lands in the East, though he sure as hell better not expect her to walk.

Following the little path back to the village, the women maintained a companionable silence. Though it was dark, the humans knew the way well enough to not need a light, and Charlotte could see just fine. Charlotte let the younger women take the lead, staring fondly at the backs of their heads.

Kagome stopped suddenly and glanced around the dark forest with worried eyes. "Did you guys feel that?"

XxxxxxxxX

Ah-Un was panting flame as he flew across the night sky, his legs churning beneath him, but Sesshomaru pushed him on with a squeeze of his legs. Jaken, wisely silent for once, sat behind him, clutching the Staff of Two Heads in his arms and the back of the saddle with his tiny green hands. Musashi sped below then in a dark blur, but the inuyoukai's keen nose took in each scent that rode the wind, searching for her distinctive sagebrush scent.

His initial fury had receded; leaving a cold burn that warred with elation that she was still here and anguish that she had betrayed him. He knew that he could not kill her but he would personally see to the tormented demises of any who had dared touch her.

Finally, he caught her scent mixed with floral chemicals and the two human females that traveled with his brother. The anger flared again at this confirmation of her infidelity, radiating off of him in waves that sent his servant into a fit of terror. His face set in grim determination; he guided Ah-Un's head down toward the forest and drew Tokijin.

XxxxxxxX

Sango nodded and tried to pierce the darkness with her mortal eyes. "Yeah, I felt it, a strong demonic aura. Could it be Senichi?"

Charlotte shivered; the aura crackling against her own was alarmingly familiar. Glancing up, a speck of white winking in the sky arrested her attention. "Oh no," she breathed, her worst fears confirmed.

"What is it?" Kagome asked, just before Charlotte shoved her forward with a hand in her back.

"Run! He's coming!" Charlotte cried, herding the other women in front of her. Needing no other prompting, they bolted along the path, easily outdistancing her as she struggled with her heavy stomach and ungainly body.

Kagome notice her falling behind first and skidded to a halt. "Charlotte!"

"Keep moving! Get Inuyasha!" she shouted at her, almost losing her footing as she lost her balance and steadied herself against a tree.

"We can't leave you-"

Sango grabbed her arm and dragged her onward. "She's right. We don't have our weapons, so we can't fight him. She's strong, but she doesn't need to be distracted by trying to protect us. Come on, finding Inuyasha is our best hope!"

With a last glance over her shoulder, Kagome stopped resisting and ran on, screaming Inuyasha's name at the top of her lungs.

Charlotte lumbered after them, disgusted by her own clumsiness but glad to hear their shouts fading into the forest. Sneaking a look up and over her shoulder, she realized with dread that he was gaining on her very, very fast. He might not be able to see her through the screen of trees, but she knew he could find her by scent alone.

A low branch yanked the towel out of her hair and she staggered into the trunk of a tree, crying out as the rough bark scraped her skin. 'This is pointless, save your energy for protecting yourself,' she thought frantically as she panted, leaning against the tree for support. There was a thump behind her and a rustle of silk, then silence.

She straightened, shaking wet hair out of her face and crossing her arms between her belly and breasts, steeling herself against the effect he still had on her. Just as beautiful as when she'd last seen him: silver hair shining brightly in the moonlight, eyes molten pools of gold. Her body ached with yearning; her beast clamored for her to bare her neck and submit to whatever he saw fit to give her, anything to erase the baleful look on his face and get her back into his good graces. She tried to shush it; she hadn't done anything wrong to deserve punishment, but her beast fought her, almost wrenching a whimper from her chest.

He was staring at her rounded stomach, his face emotionless but his eyes seething with anger. Finally, he spoke. "Whore. You think you can replace this Sesshomaru so easily?"

His words pierced her heart but she blanked her face, matching his cold expression. How had he found out about Senichi so quickly? She tried to ready a channel for when he attacked, but her beast was still yowling and wouldn't cooperate. At least he wasn't trying to kill her right away.

"And what if I have?" she shot back with more confidence than she actually felt. She couldn't tap into a channel; she'd have to stall him.

Sesshomaru tilted his head forward, glowering at her from under his bangs and growling viciously as his hand tightened on the hilt of his sword. She was challenging his authority, as she often had, but he would put a stop to that. Before the night was over, she would know her place and her consort would be dead.

Inuyasha barreled headlong through the trees with Senichi close behind, Charlotte and Sesshomaru already in sight. Skidding to a stop next to Ah-Un, he staggered forward a step as Senichi slammed into his back. "Sesshomaru! Get away from her!"

"Silence, half-breed. I will kill you and your pup."

Inuyasha's mouth dropped open in shock. His brother was a bastard _and _an imbecile. "_My_ pup? It's your fucking pup!"

Jaken exclaimed scandalously from Ah-Un's saddle, "My Lord!"

"My pup?" Sesshomaru rounded on Charlotte, his eyes narrow and nostrils flaring. "You said-"

"It's _my _cub, as Charlotte will be _my_ mate," Senichi said imperiously and pointed a disdainful claw at Sesshomaru. "And who is this guy?"

Inuyasha cut in again, drawing the enraged inuyoukai's attention to back to him and away from the lioness. "We're going to mate her to Senichi so that you can't take him!"

Sesshomaru's eyes began to bleed red as his youkai rose to fight for what was his. "She's mine, and you cannot keep me from my pup!"

Shaking with rage and frustration, Charlotte roared, "Hey! Possession is nine-tenths of the law, which makes it _my _fucking pup! Cub! Damn it!" She scooped a clod of earth from the ground and lobbed it at Sesshomaru, which exploded on his shoulder with a wet smack and showered him with bits of dirt and rotting leaves.

"Bitch!" he growled, turning back toward her.

"You can't talk to my mate like that!" Senichi leapt forward and grabbed Sesshomaru's shoulder, only to be launched backward into a tree. Momentarily stunned, he lay slumped under the tree.

"Leave me alone!" Charlotte shouted at Sesshomaru, her voice raw with hurt. All of those nights she had dreamed of seeing him again, holding and touching him. And here he was, finally, but calling her a whore and threatening to take her baby. She screamed, the pain that she had kept bottled inside erupting with a burst of sound that shook the eardrums of the youkai and hanyou, forcing them to cover their ears with their hands. She screamed until her throat burned and there was no more air in her lungs. Gasping in a breath, her body shaking from the torrent of emotion that she hadn't allowed herself to fully feel, she collapsed on the ground, great wracking sobs tearing through her chest. Heedless of her audience, she buried her head in her folded arms and cried, for herself, for her baby.

"Charlotte?" Inuyasha asked hesitantly, his ears still plastered to his head. He hated it when women cried; it made him feel helpless and weak. Sesshomaru took a step toward her and he lunged forward, planting himself between his brother and the crying woman. The cat demon had become his sister, and hell if he would let the bastard hurt her.

Sesshomaru leveled a cool stare at his brother. "Take that wretched excuse for a panther and leave us."

Inuyasha snarled back, "Not fucking likely."

Sesshomaru flexed his claws but resisted the urge to strike down the barrier between him and the female huddled on the ground. The only thing that stayed his hand was the knowledge that the hanyou wanted to protect her.

"I won't let you hurt her or take her pup."

"I'm taking them both and this Sesshomaru would not hurt his own," he stated, a hint of a growl creeping back into his voice.

Inuyasha glared at his brother, trying to discern the truth in his eyes. The redness was gone, and with it, the youkai rage. Though his face was impassive, those golden eyes, so much like his own, glittered with emotion that Inuyasha had never seen in them before and couldn't hope to name. He relaxed his posture and stepped aside slowly. "If you so much as try to hurt her, I'll tear you apart," the hanyou warned, meaning every word he said.

They both glanced down as Charlotte groaned, curling around herself. Adding to the pain in her heart, it felt like there were band around her belly, squeezing cruelly. After several excruciating moments that seemed to stretch for hours, it let up and she took a deep breath in relief. Opening her eyes, she found two anxious pairs of golden eyes staring down at her. "Leave me alone," she protested as the hovered nearer. She tried to scoot away but was seized by another squeeze, forcing a groan from her throat.

"Charlotte, what's wrong?" Inuyasha reached out to touch her but snatched his hand back at a growl from his brother, who crouched over her protectively. The cat curled up again, crying out as if someone had hit her. "Oh, shit…"

Inuyasha backed away and frantically sniffed at the air, trying to ignore the heavy scent of her fear. His brother was rapidly going more feral; the more pain and fear that Charlotte emitted, the lower he hunkered down over her. From the sound of his growl, he would transform soon, which wouldn't help anyone.

"Kagome! KAGOME!" Where was she? She was supposed to have picked up her arrows and followed him. Detecting her scent, he bounded into the trees.

"I'm coming! Oof-" she puffed as Inuyasha landed in front of her and unceremoniously yanked her onto his back, soaring into the trees. She didn't even have time to ask questions before they landed again.

Sesshomaru was crouched low over Charlotte's curled form, his skin paling and his face elongating. Hiding her with his body, he was snarling at Senichi, who looked ready to pounce. "Inuyasha, what's-" she was cut off by Charlotte's harsh cry of pain.

She hopped off of Inuyasha's back and ran toward the couple, ignoring Sesshomaru's bared teeth. "Get off! We have to take her to Kaede!" The inuyoukai didn't look like he was willing to move and Kagome wondered if she'd have to purify him when Charlotte raised her head.

"Kagome?" her eyes were bright with pain and confusion, but to Kagome's relief, she seemed to be okay. The sound of her voice had a calming effect on the dog demon, his face settling into a more human appearance.

"Yes, I'm here. Sesshomaru, you idiot, get off. She's going into labor." She swatted at him and to her surprise, he eased his crouch, but only enough to gather her into his arms. Striding purposefully toward Ah-Un, he ignored the girl as she tailed him, demanding to know what he was doing.

She grabbed onto his Mokomoko-sama, jerking hard. "I'll purify you!"

He spared her a glance before climbing onto Ah-Un in front of Jaken. "I'm taking her to your healer, as you suggested, miko."

Kagome deliberated, but since it looked like the dog demon wanted to help more than hinder, she let go of the boa. "Fine. Inuyasha will lead the way."

Sesshomaru nodded, not bothering to wait for her to climb onto his brother's back before guiding the dragon into the air. Charlotte had stopped spasming, for which he was thankful, and was lying quietly in his arms, head resting against his chest with her eyes closed. He nuzzled her cheek with his nose, rumbling deep in his chest, nuzzling her again when she relaxed against him.

"My lord," Jaken spoke reverently from behind him. "Since the cat has human blood, will your pup be able to wield Tetsusaiga?" Sesshomaru quietly considered that possibility. He hadn't tried to steal the sword since he'd discovered that it sealed his brother's demon blood, did not want him to further tarnish the family name by turning into a mindless beast. It was an interesting question, nonetheless.

XxxxxxxxX

Kaede pursed her lips as she surveyed the motley collection of youkai and humans surrounding her hut. All of them were glaring at Lord Sesshomaru, a demon she'd heard much about but had never met, who was once again trying to gain access to the cat demon within.

"I've told ye to stay out. It was a false labor and she needs her rest."

"And it's all your fault," Inuyasha spat at his back with his usual tact.

"Osuwari!" Kagome called out the door of the hut, keeping her voice down so as not to disturb the sleeping, and still very pregnant, nekoyoukai.

Inuyasha hit the ground with a muffled curse, but didn't look at all repentant when he picked himself up off the ground.

"I will take her to the Western Lands. You cannot stop this Sesshomaru, miko."

"You aren't taking her anywhere, dog. She was promised to me!" Senichi growled, his tail twitching irritably.

On their ride over, Sesshomaru had thoroughly sniffed the cat and determined that she had not betrayed him with another male, which meant that he didn't need to kill the panther outright. However, he might do it on principle if he didn't shut up.

"Fighting over her is not going to help her," Kaede broke in, showing no sign of quailing under Sesshomaru's withering stare. "Inuyasha, ye will help me move her to her own hut where she'll be more comfortable."

Gloating as he passed his brother, Inuyasha followed Kaede into the hut. Several minutes later, he re-emerged with Charlotte asleep in his arms and Kagome at his heel, nagging him about jostling her. Kaede led the small procession to Charlotte's hut, noting as they approached that the woman had transplanted several types of herbs under the windows. She had Inuyasha lay her on the futon, and then covered her with an extra kimono, despite the warmth of the morning air.

Charlotte dozed off and on late into the afternoon, once waking to Kaede's quiet humming. She sat up, pushing the smothering kimono off of her so she could cool down a little.

Kaede clicked her tongue in disapproval but neatly folded the discarded kimonos and set them aside. "Ye must stay on your back, child, lest ye invite more trouble."

Charlotte snorted but lay back down, muttering, "Stay on my back? That's how I got in trouble in the first place."

Kaede chuckled throatily and Charlotte eventually joined in, then winced, placing a hand on her belly. "So that's what I've got to look forward to?"

"That, and more besides, but when ye hold your babe in your arms, it will all be worth it." Kaede patted her hand and pushed to her feet, quietly leaving the hut. Charlotte smiled after her and dropped off again, glad that she wasn't quite there yet.

She woke again in the evening with a warm body pressed against her back. She didn't need a dog's nose to tell her who it was; his chest rumbled as she shifted and a delicate nose nuzzled her hair.

Kagome poke her face around the hanging mat at the door, whispering, "Charlotte, I don't mean to wake you, but we can't find Sessh- Oh." Her face disappeared as his rumble turned into a growl.

She stretched in his arms and rolled onto her other side so that she could see him. Her breath caught in her throat to see that moon crest so close and she couldn't help but brush it with her fingertips, then caress each maroon stripe on his cheek. He leaned into her touch ever so slightly.

"I thought you went back," he said softly but accusingly.

"I thought you wanted to kill me," she replied, defensiveness creeping into her voice.

A hint of a frown touched his lips. "You lied to me."

Her exploring fingers stilled on his face, "You mated Yukio's daughter."

"I killed her before we mated. She was an assassin."

"Oh," she relaxed again, smoothing his eyebrows into neat lines. "I once read: A heartless man is a loveless man and a loveless man is a beast(1). What are you, Sesshomaru?"

"This Sesshomaru is not a beast."

Charlotte gazed at him and he met her eyes steadily. His statement could mean many things, but the fact the he was there, beside her, spoke volumes. She wanted to be with him more than anything, however she couldn't quite let go of the worry and fear she'd been harboring these last few months. He blinked, long lashes brushing against her skin. "What do you want from me?"

Her fingers left heated paths as they whispered over his skin, tickling and tingling as they once again traced his crests. Opening his mouth to answer with his usual denial of emotion, he was surprised when his youkai spoke through him, the simple truth: "I want you."

He recovered quickly, moving to a safer topic, though his voice was gruff. "I will accept the Southern Lands as your dowry."

"I… I don't have Yukio's land," she stammered slightly, taken aback by his admission. Her heart beat rapidly, swelling as she processed what he was telling her.

"No, but you deposed him, leaving it without a leader. It is now under my power."

She hesitated, and then asked the last question that really worried her. "What about the channeling thing?"

He slipped his left hand into the gap of her robe, gliding over the swelling of her breasts with his new hand, and then traveling lower to stroke the taut skin of her belly. The belt that kept her robe closed loosened and coiled next to her and she shivered as a breeze stirred the fine hairs on her body. His hand left a trail of gooseflesh that elicited a growl from his throat. "It may be useful."

"Oh yeah?" she murmured and traced his lips with her fingertips, smiling when he caught her fingers in his mouth, warmth radiating from her fingers into her body to settle in her core. Tightening reflexively, she hissed in a breath as his claws grazed the crests on her back. "I missed you."

He chewed gently on those slender digits, savoring the scent of desire that unfolded from her and his own response stiffening in his clothes. Scraping teeth along the sides of her fingers as he pulled them out of his mouth, he rubbed his throbbing length against her and stole her lips in a deep kiss, showing her just how much he had missed her.

She melted into him, letting him lead as he tasted every corner of her mouth. Devoured by that kiss, she knew with every fiber of her body that he was all there was, and all there would be. Mate, husband, or lover, as long as he was close, she would be happy. He broke the kiss, panting against her face as his body tensed.

She rolled onto her knees and let the robe puddle on the floor, bracing herself against the wall. Moving her hair aside and baring her throat, she yowled gutturally, a call to him to claim her as his own.

His balled into fists as he struggled against his instincts, his reply just as throaty, "You are-"

"I've noticed. Just take it easy."

_OooooooooooooO_

His arms wrapped around her middle, supporting the life that kicked in seeming protest to all of the activity, pulling her away from the wall and back down to the futon. She panted heavily, skin slick with sweat, and nuzzled against his chest, curling under his arm. Exhausted, fulfilled, and happier than she had been in a long time, she dropped into a dreamless slumber.

He listened to her breathing slow into the steady rhythm of sleep, burying his nose in her hair and inhaling their mingled scents. So, she was not pureblood or from a royal bloodline. She was indisputably his and that was all that mattered.

(1) _The Drawing of the Three, _Stephen King


	22. Bundle of Joy

A/N: This is the last chapter, hope you enjoy. I may write an epilogue, but I haven't decided yet.

My next project will be a fun little thing with the regular characters, no OC. I hope to have the first chapter up in about a week.

Thanks to all who have read this, whether or not you reviewed. Not many will take a chance on an OC fic and I appreciate that you stuck with this one. I hope it didn't disappoint.

FFnet: MoonSister – good to hear from you! Tora Delerium – I'm glad you didn't have an accident… Gothic-Ember – I did mention that I liked happy endings… Neisha

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 22 – Bundle of Joy

"You should be in bed," Kagome admonished as Charlotte polished off another helping of raw venison.

"I'm fine," she said between mouthfuls. Actually, she was starving, having not had anything to eat the prior day. She'd eat the whole deer if they'd let her. Unfortunately, a haunch had already been sliced up and was bubbling in Kaede's stew. Kaede clicked her tongue but didn't comment as she swatted Shippo's hand from the stew pot.

Try as she might, Kagome could not get used to the idea of someone eating raw red meat. Fish was one thing, but venison? Just the blood smell turned her stomach; she doubted she could get a piece to her mouth without retching. She winced as Charlotte tore off another chunk from the large thighbone with her claws.

"So, ah, are you leaving with Sesshomaru?" she asked, trying not to notice how the meat shone wetly in the firelight.

"Not until after the pup is born. Speaking of which, where is that jerk, Senichi?"

Kagome grinned. "Jaken ran him off with that staff of his while you and Sesshomaru were…sleeping. Singed his tale and everything."

"I guess the little bugger comes in handy, after all."

They were interrupted as Sesshomaru swept into Kaede's hut, an irritated hanyou a few steps behind him.

"Where is Kato?" he demanded of his mate. She was struck by the change in his demeanor toward her when others were around. Alone with her, he was gentle and affectionate in a subtle, quiet way. If anyone else was present, he was distant, emotionally and physically. She let him have the space he wanted, but she missed the soft nuzzles he gave her.

"I told you, she said she took care of him," Inuyasha exclaimed, annoyed that his brother was grilling the nekoyoukai so soon after her ordeal.

"He's safe," Charlotte frowned at him.

"Safe?"

"Well, we're safe from him, really…"

"Where is he?" Sesshomaru repeated icily.

Charlotte had had enough of the attitude. "I put his youki in a boulder in the forest."

"And his body?"

"I ate him," she said slowly and distinctly.

"You _ate_ him?" Inuyasha repeated in disbelief. "I thought you just beat him up or killed him!"

"He died eventually. He should have kept his cloven hooves to himself! And I was hungry."

Sesshomaru was beginning to see red, not at the consumption of his scout but the fact that said scout had tried to take what he must have known was his lord's. "He touched you?" the question rumbled through the hut like an oncoming thunderstorm.

She calmly met his eyes, sending a pulse of reassurance through his mark. Should she tell him the truth? He obviously wanted to know what happened and could probably smell a lie. "He tried to rape me, active word being 'tried'. I took care of it."

"How awful," Kagome shuddered. "It must have been terrible for you."

"Well, gutting him was pretty cathartic."

"You are not to leave my sight," Sesshomaru snapped, incensed despite Charlotte's efforts to sooth him. Maybe she should have kept the details to herself, but she'd wanted to start this new phase in their relationship with honesty, no more secrets.

"I hardly think that's practical," Charlotte remarked at her most reasonable, trying to keep a reign on her own temper. She certainly didn't want to get into a fight with her new mate before they'd even been mated for twenty-four hours but she had to nip this crap in the bud.

He barked sharply, stilling her. "This is not my mansion, this is a filthy human village that is not fit to house you, and is shown to be dangerous. If you insist on delivering the pup here, then you will do as I say."

Inuyasha brandished a fist under his brother's nose, "It was your fucking vassal that attacked her!"

Kaede stood, her aura filling the room with spiritual power. Her words were calm but authoritative, "There will be no fighting in my hut. Inuyasha, ye will lower your voice. And as for ye," Kaede fixed the tai-youkai with a stern stare that only old women could master, "Ye would do well to keep her best interests in mind." He opened his mouth but was unceremoniously cut off. "Don't think I don't know what ye have been up to. Mounting a woman so heavy with child, ye should be ashamed of yourself." She bustled out of the hut, leaving in her wake a roomful of abashed adults.

"Actually," Shippo piped up, "Pregnant youkai females can be mated up until they give birth. You should've seen my Pa-"

"Okay, Shippo, we get the idea," Kagome broke in quickly, pressing her hands to her burning cheeks. Sometimes she forgot how different the demon world was from the human world, and then Shippo would bust out with something that a youngster really shouldn't know.

"At least it won't be born a bastard," Charlotte remarked.

"Keh. With his sire, it's a guarantee he will be."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome had that tone in her voice, the one that promised a humiliating face plant on the floor of the hut.

Inuyasha stomped out of the hut, grumbling under his breath about bastards and hentai cats. Charlotte watched him go, wondering if he'd ever get over the fact that she was with his brother _again_. Licking the blood from her claws, she eyed her impassive but irritated mate from under her lashes. Stay within his sight, oh?

Kagome cleared her throat awkwardly, then reached into her ever-present yellow backpack and pulled out a small plastic package. "I almost forgot; I brought you something, Charlotte."

Charlotte's eyebrows raised and her eyes widened as she accepted the package. Squealing in delight, she reached over and gave the girl a hug. "Chocolate kisses! Kagome, you are a saint."

"I wish you'd let me bring back some baby stuff." The teen returned her hug with an embarrassed grin, and then slung her backpack over her shoulder, following after the hanyou. Shippo glanced from the unopened bag of kisses in Charlotte's claws to Kagome's retreating backpack. With a small frown, he jumped to his feet and ran after her.

"Wait, Kagome! Did you bring me any Pocky?"

With a wide grin plastered over her face, Charlotte tore into the bag with her fangs and extracted a silver-wrapped kiss. Sesshomaru sat next to her, sniffing at the strange items with a suspicious glint in his eyes.

"What is that?"

"Never mind. Chocolate isn't good for dogs."

"Then neither is it good for breeding bitches," he moved to take the package and sweet smelling thing in her hand, but she leaned away from him, extending her arms and moving them out of his reach.

"_Lioness_. And I don't think there's been any research done on the subject." She was tall for a woman in the feudal era, but he was still taller and had longer arms. With a slight shift, he almost succeeded in snatching the package from her hands; would have if she hadn't twisted her arms behind her back, moving the bag around her body. With a quick, altogether unexpected movement, she stuffed the bag of chocolate down the front of her kimono to nestle between her breasts.

Shocked, he stared at the new lump in her kimono, not sure what to do next. His hesitation gave her the time she needed to finish unwrapping the lone kiss in her hand and pop it in her mouth.

"Ha. Foiled." She balled the silver wrapper between her fingers and flicked it at him, hitting him between the eyes.

Growling, he told her exactly what he thought of her challenge. She grinned at him, showing the tips of her fangs between her lips as her eyelids dropped to half-mast.

"Impertinent woman," he stated coldly, but his eyes held a strange gleam as he formulated a plan. She thought she'd won, did she? Not only would he get the sweet stuff from her, she would give it to him willingly; feed it to him, if that's what he wanted.

"Maybe you should have thought of that before you knocked me up and mated me," she retorted as she fished another chocolate out of the bag in her kimono.

"Indeed." He gave her a long stare, and then swept out of the hut.

Smirking to herself triumphantly as she sucked on the kiss, she muttered to herself, "'You are not to leave my sight', my ass." She knew he wasn't that angry but she had no idea what he could be doing. However, she still had her chocolate and he had willing left her. He could play dominant dog in the bedroom all he wanted, but hell would freeze over before she became one of those obedient little things up in his mansion. Two points for the cat.

Kaede entered the hut, casting her a look askance when she saw the expecting lioness munching on candy, a small pile of wrappers near her feet. "Ye should not be eating that," the old miko scolded her as she gave the venison stew a stir.

"Not you too," Charlotte sighed, pulling the bag of slightly melted treats out of her kimono. Wherever her mate had gone, he didn't seem to be returning any time soon. Perhaps she shouldn't have thrown a candy wrapper at him. But he shouldn't have tried to come between her and her chocolate.

A minty aroma wafted by and she sneezed, her nose tingling with the aftereffect. "Kaede, what did you put in that stew?" She sniffed at the steam rising from the surface but it wasn't the source of the smell. It was coming from the doorway. Oh no. He didn't.

Almost against her will, she turned her head, the heady aroma creeping into her brain like mist through the rice patties. Sesshomaru stood in the doorway, framed by the night with his hair glowing in the light of the fire. To the casual observer, his expression was aloof, but to Charlotte he looked…smug. And positively delicious. The tip of his Mokomoko-sama fluttered enticingly in the breeze and she had the most overwhelming desire to pounce and wrap them both up in that white fur, lick it and him clean of the minty scent that emanated from him.

Sesshomaru struggled against the twitching of his lips as he watched the cat's eyes glaze over and her slitted pupils dilate. He stroked the soft fur of his boa, ruffling it with his claws and watching her watch him with an almost predatory glitter in her eyes.

Kaede felt the tension in the room and glanced between the two. "Have ye been rolling in catnip?" she asked the dog demon in disbelief, who blatantly ignored her.

"Not fair," Charlotte whispered huskily, inching closer to him despite the knowledge that he would take away her chocolate. But she _had_ to run her claws through that fur, that hair. Her fingers positively _itched_.

He raised an eyebrow, then stepped away from the doorway, keeping his stride fairly brisk so that she would have to hurry to catch up. Sure enough, the sounds of her scrambling to her feet and running after him, as well as Kaede fruitless protest, met his ears and he let himself smile into the night.

Charlotte crouched down behind one of the low growing bushes along the path to her hut. Holding her body perfectly still, except for the occasional kick within her, she watched him approach the entrance to her hut, then pause. Scanning the night, raising his head slightly to scent the air, he languidly ruffled the fur of his boa.

Still she waited for the right moment, body tense and ready to spring. So he thought he could manipulate her with catnip, did he? It was a challenge to her youkai, if she'd ever seen one, and she was more than up to it. She shifted her feet slightly as a rustling erupted from the forest next to her hut.

Moments later, Kirara shot through the brush, heading straight toward Sesshomaru, her kitten eyes sparkling with catnip glow. Sesshomaru turned to the firecat, giving Charlotte the distraction she needed. Running as quickly and low to the ground as she could with her large stomach, then springing forward, she hit Sesshomaru square in the back, knocking them both into the hut.

Kirara ran after them, but put her brakes on quickly when Charlotte growled at her, "Mine." She back out of the hut forlornly, then sat on top wooden step and yowled.

"Woman," he said sternly, trying to throw her off, but she captured his wrists behind his back so he had no leverage and she was rather heavy, especially when she went slightly limp. It was a mysterious trick of the feline species, to increase the body weight on command. Grinning toothily and purring as she straddled his back, she brushed his silky hair away from the back of his neck, running her claws over his scalp. With a long, rough tongue, she licked the tender flesh at the nape of his neck.

"Cat," he warned, almost freeing his wrists, so she sat on those, too, laying her entire body over his back and squeezing his hips with her thighs. Digging the claws of one hand into his side and running her other claws over his scalp, she licked the delicate point of his ear with her sandpaper tongue.

The side of his face was exposed, one golden eye glaring up at her. She met that eye with heavy-lidded green ones and proceeded to try to lick the stripes off of his cheek.

This was not what he'd had in mind when he'd rubbed catnip on himself. An adoring, pliant cat was what he'd been after, not a tongue bath. The infuriating thing was, aside from being held immobile with his stomach pressed against the floor of a crude hut, that everything she did _tickled_ in a painful sort of way and he had to struggle against the rumble that was building in his chest. A disturbing thought occurred to him; a breeding female had overpowered this Sesshomaru, the Lord of the West. However, he really didn't want her to stop. So, he relaxed, stop struggling, allowed her ministrations. It was much more honorable that way.

XxxxxxxxxX

Inuyasha sat with a thump next to Kagome, who had to steady her bowl so that the venison stew didn't slosh out.

"What's eating you?" she asked the hanyou, who looked quite put out.

He tucked his arms into the sleeves of his haori and gave her a truculent look out of the corner of his eyes. "You can't leave me here alone with those two perverts," he jerked his head in the direction of Charlotte's hut. He'd wanted to make sure his brother wasn't picking on her but had stopped short at the smell of catnip and that _other_ scent, the one he'd smelled on Charlotte and his brother before. He hadn't recognized the musky, tangy scent when he'd first smelled it all those months ago, but now he knew exactly what it was.

"I think it's good for him, your brother settling down with someone. He's changed, don't you think?" Kagome handed him a bowl, which he took grudgingly.

"He's still a bastard."

"Besides, you can hardly blame him, with a willing woman like that…" Miroku glanced hopefully at Sango, who pretended not to notice but was belied by the faint blush dusting her cheeks.

"I ain't staying here smelling that!" Inuyasha burst out, then closed his mouth with a snap, scowling.

Kagome blushed bright red, realizing that the hanyou knew exactly what they were doing and when they were doing it. The thought conjured images in her mind of snowy hair and triangle ears with an egregious lack of firerat clothing. "Well," the word came out as a squeak and she cleared her throat. "Why don't you come back through the well with me. You can hang out at home while I take my tests."

"A fine invitation," Miroku said, hoping that he'd take her up on the offer. He did not want the hanyou coming with Sango and him to the demon exterminator's village. He had some new lines that he wanted to try out on the taijiya and the hanyou would only get in the way.

"Fine," Inuyasha snapped. He did not like Kagome's era, but anything was better than smelling his brother rutting with…his sister. Then, that bastard would take her and her pup away, and he'd loose the only blood family that could have cared about him.

XxxxxxxxxX

Days passed, the warmth slowly leeching out of air as autumn encroached. The village was quiet once again, now that Inuyasha's group had scattered to do their own things. Jaken had been sent back to the mansion to fetch a carriage to carry mother and child in comfort. Kaede had her own chores to perform and Shippo to help her out.

That suited Charlotte just fine, since she was left alone with Sesshomaru who was now true to his word and didn't let her out of his sight. They spent the days sitting in companionable silence or lazily making love. She had made a point to learn every inch of his body intimately, having lathed it with her tongue the other night, but what made up Sesshomaru, the man, was still somewhat of a mystery.

Sometimes, they'd share stories of their lives, since they really didn't know each other that well. Most of her stories were met with a raised eyebrow and an air of disapproval, which she found amusing. His tales were violent and often disturbing, but altogether fascinating. He could have walked out of one of her science fiction novels. A scant two weeks in each other's company and now they were mated and expecting. Which was also fine with Charlotte, because she was hopelessly, madly in love.

She sat in the circle of his arms, leaning her head against his chest, devoid of armor, and enjoying the stillness of the afternoon. One of his hands stroked her belly, the other rested on a straightened leg. His sandalwood scent surrounded her, silken hair caressing her cheek as he leaned slightly forward and whuffled hot breath across her face. Letting her eyes drift closed, she rubbed her cheek along his.

"Are you ready for this?" she asked quietly, opening her eyes when his hand stopped moving. He was staring off into the distance, a slight wrinkle between his eyebrows. "What is it?"

"My mother died in childbirth," he admitted. The hand on her stomach tensed and tightened, though he was careful not to prick her skin with her claws.

"Oh. I'm sorry." It sounded lame, but she didn't really know what else to say. "Well, my mother didn't, and I'll be fine. It's funny to think that my own pup will be born before my mother and I were."

He nuzzled her cheek, resuming the soft caress of her stomach. "Do you miss your previous life?"

She shrugged, twirling her fingers in a stray lock of his hair. "I miss Charlie. Sometimes I feel a little lost, not having a job to go to, but this one will keep me busy, I'm sure." She untangled her fingers from his hair and covered his hand with hers, lacing their fingers together.

"A female of your station should not work."

Squeezing his hand firmly, she looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "I'm an engineer, you know. Software engineer. I could learn engineering more appropriate to these times, maybe teach it to the pup."

He snorted. "Women are not engineers, and my son will be a warrior and a Lord."

Charlotte rolled her eyes and gently nipped his ear. "It might be a girl," she reminded him.

"Hn."

"I'm glad you came back when you did. It would suck having this pup without you," she said in a light, teasing voice.

He buried his nose in her hair, inhaling deeply. He was glad he'd found her as well, though if she'd already mated that panther, he would have killed him and taken her anyway. "When you left me in the woods near Yukio's tower, you said something but didn't finish. Tell me what it was."

She twisted in his arms in order to get a good look at his face. Molten eyes slightly narrowed, his head cocked to the side, she read avid interest in his features though anyone else would have mistaken it for a passing curiosity. "You remember that?"

"I thought it to be a dream but now I know that it was not." She moved to untwist so that she could hide against his chest, but he caught her chin with his free hand, forcing her to meet his eyes. "You will tell this Sesshomaru."

She was trapped; those pools of golden fire brooked no argument. Why did he want to know so badly? He wasn't big on words. Besides, she'd told him many times already with her actions, even before she left that morning three months ago. "Sesshomaru, I…"

His eyes bored into her, the crease reappearing between his eyebrows. He wasn't pleased by her hesitation and she didn't know why she would hesitate in the first place. He was her mate, after all. She would bear his children. The time for protecting herself against him, of hiding this one little bit of information even though it was blatantly obvious to everyone else, was long past gone.

She brushed his bangs out of his face and traced the blue crescent moon on his forehead, then smoothed the crease that drew his regal brows together. Smiling shyly, she realized she'd never said these words to a man that wasn't family. "Sesshomaru, I love you. But you already knew that."

The light in his eyes softened, bathing her in a radiance that warmed her blood and made her heart race. His pale lips quirked and she couldn't help but kiss the corner of them, nibbling tenderly.

Sesshomaru let her attend to him, his hand releasing her jaw and snaking around her waist to settle over his mark on her lower back. Sighing in contentment as she placed feathery kisses over his face, he closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. She wasn't with him because she carried his pup or because he'd mated her. She wanted him like he wanted her.

She pulled away suddenly, a startled look in her wide, distant eyes. He barked a terse question and she blinked, focusing on him.

"So, are you ready?"

He cocked his head. Yet again, she had not answered his question. "For what?" he asked. She patted her round belly and pursed her lips in a wry smile. "Now?" She nodded solemnly. Nervousness shot through his system and his arms tightened around her. "Do I have a choice?"

"Nope."

"Then this Sesshomaru is ready."

XxxxxxxxxX

Sesshomaru stared down into the face of his daughter, gently tracing the blue crescent moon on her forehead. Her eyes were closed but he knew they were gold; the pupils slitted like her mother's. So beautiful, so tiny, he was almost afraid he'd crush her in his arms. She yawned and stretched, pale, rosy lips stretching to reveal naked gums. A tiny claw tipped each finger and gracefully pointed demon ears were framed by curly, white hair that glinted gold. Only a few hours old, she'd managed to capture his heart just as surely as her mother had.

He felt the warmth of his mate at his back, sitting behind him and holding his sons but resting her chin on his shoulder to also gaze down at their daughter. He nuzzled her cheek with his nose without taking his eyes from the pup's pudgy face.

A quiet snort announced the arrival of his half-brother and Sesshomaru glanced up at him. Inuyasha was slouching against the doorway of the hut, watching the pups and their mother with a wistful expression. So the hanyou had returned with his human wench.

He was glad that his brother had not been around to witness his loss of control as his mate had birthed his pups. The blood scent and agonized groans coming from the hut from which he'd been barred had driven him into frenzy. The old miko had finally placed a barrier around the hut and he'd taken out his frustration on a copse of innocent trees. The harsh cry of a newborn pup had broken through the rage and he'd rushed back to her, clawing at the barrier until it was lowered. A village woman, quaking with fear, handed him a small bundle of cloth that wailed heartily: his son and heir. A dusky-red crescent-moon, stark against the pale skin of his forehead, showed the strength and nobility of his bloodline. A matching cinnamon whorl graced each pudgy cheek, curling over the high cheekbones and curving up to his temples. Overcome by such a little thing, he dropped to his knees, nuzzling his face to comfort him. The pup had opened his eyes, golden like his father's but slitted like his mother's, and then quieted.

But the blood-smell had still hung thick in the air; his mate's hoarse moaning still tearing at his ears. He'd stayed where he was, clutching his son to his chest until another shrill cry rent the air. Climbing to his feet, he'd approached the hut, only to have another pup thrust into his arms and the entrance barred.

Twins? His second born son had burbled up at him, his crests the same as his brother's but his eyes a starling green. Bowing his head and gritting his teeth, he'd sheltered his sons against the suffering of their mother with a curtain of silver hair. Charlotte had finally shrieked in triumph and he'd thrown his head back and howled. A light touch on his shoulder almost cost the old miko her hand, until he'd realized he was being invited into the hut. He'd entered slowly; his sons nestled against his chest, his eyes piercing the gloom in the hut and his sensitive nose protesting the strong smell of blood and fluids.

Charlotte lay on her back, another pup curled in her arms. She'd met his eyes, exhaustion washing the green to gray, and smiled, gesturing to him to come closer. He'd sat behind her, handing her one of the boys and propping her up in his lap. Wiping damp strands of hair from her forehead, he'd rumbled his approval.

He was snapped out of his reverie by a soft trill form his daughter. Had Inuyasha been this small when he'd been born? He'd barely spared the hanyou his notice, a wretched half-breed infant in the arms of a human woman who had brought about the death of his father. He'd considered his brother less than refuse, but Izayoi had stared at the pup like his mate stared at this one, as if he were the most precious thing alive.

Perhaps he'd been mistaken to blame his brother for his father's folly. A tiny thing like this couldn't be at fault; he'd simply been caught up and carried away by events beyond his control. A wave of remorse hit him as he considered the miserable life his brother had led and his part in it. He could have sheltered the boy, reared him as the lord he was, but he'd let his anger ferment into hatred and cast the boy away. It had not been honorable, what he'd done.

Someone to protect, his father had said. He now knew what that meant. His father had died to protect his woman and pup. If necessary, Sesshomaru would do the same for his.

"Inuyasha," he spoke suddenly, almost startling the hanyou. "Acknowledge your nephews and niece."

"Keh. I can see 'em just fine from here." He scowled over his shoulder and into the darkness outside the hut.

"Now."

Inuyasha grumbled under his breath but approached the couple. He did want to see the pups; no one had ever let him this close to their children and these pups were _family_. He couldn't help but be scared that his half-brother would stonewall him from the little blood family he had left. Unsure of what his brother intended, he stopped an arm's length away from them and crossed his arms over his chest.

Sesshomaru stood; his daughter cradled in one arm, and helped to his mate to stand as well. "My first born son and heir, Haruki." Charlotte handed the infant in her right arm to the hanyou. Hesitating, then taking him gingerly from his mother, Inuyasha held the pup awkwardly against his chest, nuzzling a greeting against his mop of platinum hair.

"My second born son, Kenjiro." Inuyasha swapped pups with Charlotte, holding him more confidently now that he knew that the infants wouldn't shatter when he touched them. Again, he nuzzled the pup, imprinting his scent as pack.

"My third born, Izayoi." Freezing as he handed the boy back to his mother, Inuyasha dragged his eyes to meet his brother's. Again, he was struck by the intensity of the emotion shining in his eyes.

Charlotte took the pup from the shell-shocked hanyou, freeing his arms to receive her daughter. He took the girl reverently, for once not trading insults with his brother. Closing his eyes and inhaling the sweet scent of the pup, he tucked his nose against her tiny neck. Relief flooded him at the thought of being a part of these pups' lives. Yes, Kagome was his home, but to have blood family was a dream that had died with his mother.

"Strong pups," he managed though the thickness in his throat.

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow. "Of course."

XxxxxxxxxxX

"They're awfully mobile for newborns," Kagome commented as she picked up Haruki, who had wiggled off the picnic blanket.

"Well, they're demon pups," said Charlotte, as if that explained everything. Kenjiro nursed quietly under a blanket that she'd draped over her shoulder to preserve her modesty. She wouldn't have bothered but Jaken had arrived a few days ago with Mamoru and tended to follow his master like a shadow until he was sent away. Not to mention Miroku, who always seemed to come by when she was feeding a pup, though with three pups, that's pretty much all she did any more.

Kagome cuddled the heir of the Western Lands, aware of the sharp eye of his father watching her every move. "You said you had human blood and the pups would too."

"Yeah," Charlotte confirmed, wondering where she was going with this.

"I don't sense any human in these pups."

"That can't be. Are you sure?"

Kagome nodded, running her fingers through the pup's platinum hair. "Kaede couldn't either. They are pure demon."

Charlotte frowned in thought. "Maybe I shouldn't have done all that energy work when I was pregnant."

Mamoru stopped a respectful distance away and coughed quietly to announce his presence. The golden eyes of his lord slid toward him, followed by a small nod. The old bear's heart warmed to see the gentle way his young lord held his pup. He'd been so worried when Lord Sesshomaru had rushed away from the mansion with murder in his eyes. Then Jaken had returned with Ah-Un with the news of his mating and expected pup. Now his lord had two fine sons and a daughter who promised to be a great beauty. Well, it was about damn time.

"My Lord, everything is ready for your departure. The Lady and your pups should be quite comfortable. We await your word."

"We will depart when the Lady is ready," Sesshomaru stated firmly, careful not to imply a timeframe or rush her in any way. His mate was still quite weary from birthing the pups and the constant nursing was draining her further. There was no real cause for concern, but he was taking no chances.

"We'll miss you," Kagome told her as she planted a noisy kiss on the Haruki's forehead, much to the infant's delight. A trill from Izayoi answered his happy yip. Kagome laughed and repeated the kiss and was rewarded by several more high-pitched barks. His sister cooed, catching her tiny claws in her father's hair and yanking hard. Sesshomaru pried his hair out of her grasp with a low rumble, which fazed the girl not at all. Kenjiro grunted, but stayed attached to his breakfast.

"Come visit! You know where to find us."

"You bet. Inuyasha's quite taken with the pups, you know." Kagome gazed at the demon lord holding his daughter, his armor having been discarded in favor of a burp cloth even though the pups didn't need burping like human babies. It was strange to see the youkai who had tried to kill them handle an infant with such tenderness. "It really means a lot to him, what you did, Lord Sesshomaru," she said respectfully.

"Hn."

"Okay, I think we're all done here," Charlotte said as Kenjiro disengaged from her nipple. She adjusted her clothes and pulled the blanket from her shoulder. "I suppose now is as good a time as any to leave." She sighed, glancing around the grounds of her hut. It had been quite homey, had been the sight of her mating, and her pups' birth, but it had outlived its usefulness. She gazed sidelong at Kagome, who was blowing whoopee cushions on Haruki's stomach. Maybe someone else would find it useful, she thought hopefully. Not that she thought Kagome and Inuyasha should run off and have babies, but she'd love to see them get closer. The hanyou had a void in his soul, one that Kagome would be more than happy to fill.

Taking Haruki from Kagome, she kissed each boy's downy platinum hair, and then leaned over kiss Izayoi's curls. Mamoru took his cue and led the small group to the waiting carriage, where a small group of people had gathered.

Charlotte eyed the contraption warily; a covered cart with drapes for doors and two large, spoked wheels. Ah-Un was yoked to the two front bars, looking less than pleased. No windows, she thought to herself. She didn't like the idea of not being able to see where she was going. Then again, she would probably sleep most of the time, so maybe it was okay.

Sesshomaru stopped next her, glancing at her out of the corner of his eyes. "It is not to your liking?"

"It's fine," she assured him, pulling away the drape that covered the door. The inside was wall-to-wall bedding, soft cushions and blankets forming a nest on the floor. A short lip at the door would prevent anyone from inadvertently falling out. "We'll be fine."

"Who knew you'd have a fucking litter," Inuyasha spoke by her elbow. Mamoru harrumphed in disapproval, but his lord did not act, so neither did he. Inuyasha nuzzled the cheek of each boy, who yipped at him in unison.

"Well, I was bigger than a house." She gave him a tired smile, fatigue lining her normally bright eyes. "Thanks for looking after me."

He grunted. "Bastard doesn't deserve you," he directed a glower at his brother before tousling the girl's curly hair.

"What would a baka like you know of it?" Sesshomaru asked with a raised eyebrow, but without any rancor in his voice, allowing the attention his brother was bestowing upon his daughter.

"Okay," Charlotte broke in, forestalling another snippy argument between the brothers. Like her own mother would say, she was Not in the Mood. She finished her goodbyes with Miroku and Sango, giving Kaede, the woman who had delivered her pups, a big hug. She hugged Kagome last, who was looking a little misty eyed.

"Come," Sesshomaru took one of his sons so that she could easily get into the carriage. Then he handed her both son and daughter, and watched while she curled up with her three pups. Satisfied that they were comfortable, he dropped the drape and gathered his demon cloud around his feet. Mamoru and Jaken would drive the cart, not that Ah-Un needed much guidance.

As they rose into the air, he glanced around the crude little village and its inhabitants. Four months ago, he wouldn't have given a second thought to demolishing it, but now…he could see why his brother fought so hard to protect it. There were a few things more important than power and conquest, and Tenseiga might not be as useless as he once thought. Rin's face came to mind, grinning brightly at him. It had been that girl who had convinced him to go after the cat in the first place, and Tenseiga who had prompted him to resurrect the girl. His hand crept to the hilt of the sword he'd inherited from his father. 'No,' he thought, 'definitely _not_ a useless sword.'


End file.
